Syria: Mehlis gets his men
The UN investigator, Detlev Mehlis, appears to have secured a last-minute breakthrough in his deliberations with Damascus about the location and terms whereby he will interview a number of senior Syrian security officials in connection with the February 15th assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister, Rafiq al-Hariri.
According to UN Security Council 1636, which was passed unanimously on October 31st, Mr Mehlis was entitled decide the conditions for such interviews, and the Syrian government bore responsibility for detaining any officials that the commission suspected of involvement in the assassination. The resolution endorsed the conclusion in the report submitted by Mr Mehlis that there was “converging evidence” of the involvement of Lebanese and Syrian intelligence services in the assassination.
However, the Syrian government objected to the investigator's demand that six officials should be questioned at his headquarters in Monteverde, outside Beirut. This was unacceptable to Damascus both because of the political humiliation involved and, more pertinently, because of the risk that once in Lebanese territory these officials might be arrested.
After two weeks of apparently fruitless discussions, reports surfaced suggesting that Mr Mehlis was ready to report back to the UN Security Council before 15th December, the end of his commission's current mandate, and declare Syria to have failed to comply with the binding demand in the resolution that it should co-operate with his investigation. With time apparently running out, Syria on November 25th announced that it had decided to accept a proposal from Mr Mehlis that the interviews be conducted at the UN offices in Vienna.
The Syrian deputy foreign minister, Walid al-Muallem, said that Syria had dropped its demand for a legal framework to be agreed for the interviews. However, he said that the UN commission had provided guarantees as to the rights of the individuals concerned and as regards respect for Syrian sovereignty. He said that the five individuals would be allowed to return to Damascus after the interviews. No explanation has been provided about the reduction in the number of interviewees from six to five. They have also not been identified. The final version of Mr Mehlis's report mentioned three Syrian officials: the former head of military intelligence in Lebanon, Rustom al-Ghazaleh, his deputy, Jameh Jameh, and the head of overall Syrian military intelligence, Assef Shawkat. Other officials, including Maher al-Assad, the younger brother of the Syrian president, were mentioned in an earlier version of the report.
The agreement announced by Mr Muallem has bought some time for Syria. However, further difficulties would arise if Mr Mehlis were to recommend the arrest of Syrian officials as suspects.
SOURCE: ViewsWire Middle East
According to UN Security Council 1636, which was passed unanimously on October 31st, Mr Mehlis was entitled decide the conditions for such interviews, and the Syrian government bore responsibility for detaining any officials that the commission suspected of involvement in the assassination. The resolution endorsed the conclusion in the report submitted by Mr Mehlis that there was “converging evidence” of the involvement of Lebanese and Syrian intelligence services in the assassination.
However, the Syrian government objected to the investigator's demand that six officials should be questioned at his headquarters in Monteverde, outside Beirut. This was unacceptable to Damascus both because of the political humiliation involved and, more pertinently, because of the risk that once in Lebanese territory these officials might be arrested.
After two weeks of apparently fruitless discussions, reports surfaced suggesting that Mr Mehlis was ready to report back to the UN Security Council before 15th December, the end of his commission's current mandate, and declare Syria to have failed to comply with the binding demand in the resolution that it should co-operate with his investigation. With time apparently running out, Syria on November 25th announced that it had decided to accept a proposal from Mr Mehlis that the interviews be conducted at the UN offices in Vienna.
The Syrian deputy foreign minister, Walid al-Muallem, said that Syria had dropped its demand for a legal framework to be agreed for the interviews. However, he said that the UN commission had provided guarantees as to the rights of the individuals concerned and as regards respect for Syrian sovereignty. He said that the five individuals would be allowed to return to Damascus after the interviews. No explanation has been provided about the reduction in the number of interviewees from six to five. They have also not been identified. The final version of Mr Mehlis's report mentioned three Syrian officials: the former head of military intelligence in Lebanon, Rustom al-Ghazaleh, his deputy, Jameh Jameh, and the head of overall Syrian military intelligence, Assef Shawkat. Other officials, including Maher al-Assad, the younger brother of the Syrian president, were mentioned in an earlier version of the report.
The agreement announced by Mr Muallem has bought some time for Syria. However, further difficulties would arise if Mr Mehlis were to recommend the arrest of Syrian officials as suspects.
SOURCE: ViewsWire Middle East
posted by Marko at 11/25/2005 04:51:00 PM
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