US warns Syria to let U.N. interview its president
Harold's List
By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States warned Syria on Tuesday that its president and other top officials should submit to interviews by U.N. investigators probing the murder of a former Lebanese prime minister.
The U.N. commission set up to investigate the assassination of Lebanese ex-Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri has asked to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as well as his foreign minister, Farouq al-Shara.
"No one is immune the obligation to provide evidence to a legitimate judicial inquiry," U.S. Ambassador John Bolton told reporters.
He said that Syria's "record to date has been one of obstructing the investigation, of tampering with the evidence and not making witnesses available in a timely fashion."
Bolton warned Damascus that the Security Council had made clear it expected "full and unconditional compliance" with the U.N. investigation and that "additional measures could be taken if need be."
These actions could include blanket sanctions although such measures are unlikely to get the needed support. They could also include a travel ban and a freeze on assets of anyone who refuses to cooperate.
U.N. investigators want to meet former Vice President Abdel-Halim Khaddam, now living in Paris as soon as possible.
Khaddam said in a television interview that Assad had threatened Hariri months before he was assassinated in Beirut in February 14.
Syria has denied any role in the killing and has not commented on the request for an interview with its president, although it previously invited the chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis of Germany, to meet with the foreign minister.
Mehlis is expected to end his stint this month and be replaced by Belgian Serge Brammertz, the deputy prosecutor of the Hague-based International Criminal Court.
The U.N. inquiry has already implicated senior Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies in the February 14 murder of Hariri in Beirut. The killing that sparked mass anti-Syrian protests in Beirut, forcing Damascus to bow to world pressure and withdraw its troops from Lebanon in April.
In Damascus, the ruling Baath Party on Sunday expelled Khaddam, one of its longest-serving officials and a veteran aide to late President Hafez al-Assad, saying he had betrayed the party, the country and the Arab nation. He resigned his vice presidency post in June.
By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States warned Syria on Tuesday that its president and other top officials should submit to interviews by U.N. investigators probing the murder of a former Lebanese prime minister.
The U.N. commission set up to investigate the assassination of Lebanese ex-Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri has asked to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as well as his foreign minister, Farouq al-Shara.
"No one is immune the obligation to provide evidence to a legitimate judicial inquiry," U.S. Ambassador John Bolton told reporters.
He said that Syria's "record to date has been one of obstructing the investigation, of tampering with the evidence and not making witnesses available in a timely fashion."
Bolton warned Damascus that the Security Council had made clear it expected "full and unconditional compliance" with the U.N. investigation and that "additional measures could be taken if need be."
These actions could include blanket sanctions although such measures are unlikely to get the needed support. They could also include a travel ban and a freeze on assets of anyone who refuses to cooperate.
U.N. investigators want to meet former Vice President Abdel-Halim Khaddam, now living in Paris as soon as possible.
Khaddam said in a television interview that Assad had threatened Hariri months before he was assassinated in Beirut in February 14.
Syria has denied any role in the killing and has not commented on the request for an interview with its president, although it previously invited the chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis of Germany, to meet with the foreign minister.
Mehlis is expected to end his stint this month and be replaced by Belgian Serge Brammertz, the deputy prosecutor of the Hague-based International Criminal Court.
The U.N. inquiry has already implicated senior Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies in the February 14 murder of Hariri in Beirut. The killing that sparked mass anti-Syrian protests in Beirut, forcing Damascus to bow to world pressure and withdraw its troops from Lebanon in April.
In Damascus, the ruling Baath Party on Sunday expelled Khaddam, one of its longest-serving officials and a veteran aide to late President Hafez al-Assad, saying he had betrayed the party, the country and the Arab nation. He resigned his vice presidency post in June.
posted by Marko at 1/04/2006 01:44:00 PM
<< Home