United Nation
Mehlis delivers Hariri probe report to Annan
By Gerard Aziakou
Dec 12, 2005, 11:35

(Middle East Online) UNITED NATIONS - The head of the UN panel probing the killing of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri presented his findings to UN chief Kofi Annan here Sunday two days before he was to brief the Security Council on Syria's cooperation with the probe.


German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, accompanied by a security guard and a female aide, arrived at Annan's New York residence shortly after 5:00 pm (2200 GMT).


The UN secretary general and Mehlis shook hands for the cameras at a photo session. They made no statement to the press.


Ahead of the handover, Mehlis expressed support for Lebanon's request to renew the mandate of the UN enquiry panel for another six months, saying his team had made progress but that the February assassination still required further investigation.


"We have so far reconstituted half the puzzle," Mehlis told a Lebanese newspaper, Al-Mostaqbal, in an interview published on Saturday.


"There are still dark corners that we are shedding light on, but the enquiry is progressing," Mehlis told the paper, which is owned by Hariri's family.


UN diplomats said the Security Council was likely to pass a new resolution endorsing Lebanon's extension request after hearing a presentation from Mehlis scheduled for Tuesday.


Members of the 15-member council will receive copies of the Mehlis report Monday "to give them about a day to study it," the UN said.


Mehlis, who said he will step down when his six-month mandate expires Thursday to return to his work as a magistrate in Germany, was expected to give a press conference Tuesday after briefing the Security Council.


The UN meanwhile said the search was continuing for a successor to Mehlis should the Security Council decide to extend the inquiry panel's mandate.


The inquiry is at a crucial stage as investigators last week wrapped up the questioning of five Syrian intelligence officials in Vienna over the Hariri slaying.


In his interim report released in October, Mehlis cited "evidence" that senior Syrian and Lebanese security officials were involved in Hariri's murder on February 14 in Beirut.


The Security Council as a result unanimously adopted Resolution 1636 on October 31, demanding that Syria fully cooperate with the investigation and threatening international sanctions if it did not comply.


Afterward, it took weeks for Syria to agree on Vienna as a neutral venue for the questioning of Syrian officials by UN investigators.


"The Syrian part of the enquiry will be intensified in its current stage," Mehlis said.


Referring to criticism of the investigation mainly from Syria, Mehlis said that it provided "proof that I'm doing my job well because if everyone was happy with the results, that would have meant the opposite."


Syria was forced to withdraw its troops from Lebanon under international pressure following Hariri's murder. Damascus has insisted it has been falsely accused of orchestrating the killing.


Deputy Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said on Saturday that there is "no reason for the Security Council to take measures against Syria" and that his government had "fully cooperated" with the UN investigators.


And Syrian president Bashar al-Assad told Russian television Sunday that sanctions against Syria would be bad for the whole world,


Speaking in Arabic on Russian television, Assad asked what the countries pressing for sanctions would gain, according to the Russian translation of his remarks, adding that they would lose, not win.


Assad warned that any military or political error in the region would precipitate chaos which could reach Russia's southern borders.


He vowed to severely punish anyone close to him or any military officer implicated in the killing.


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