Region | Lebanon
Beirut seeks UN inquiry extension
Lebanon has asked UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to extend for six months the mandate of an inquiry into the killing of Rafik Hariri.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:31 May 3, 2009
Beirut: Lebanon has asked UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to extend for six months the mandate of an inquiry into the killing of former prime minister Rafik Hariri.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora told Annan in a phone call on Saturday that the Lebanese government wanted the inquiry to continue for six months after its December 15 deadline, and be open to further extensions, a statement from his office said.
Lebanon's government agreed on Thursday to ask the United Nations to continue its probe into the February 14 truck bombing that killed Hariri, but UN diplomats said the chief investigator in the case, Detlev Mehlis, planned to leave his job by the end of the year.
Mehlis' interim report in October cast suspicion on senior Syrian officials and suggested the assassination was planned by top security officials in Damascus and their Lebanese allies.
Syria has dismissed those accusations as politically motivated. Diplomatic sources said on Sunday that five Syrian officials summoned by Mehlis had left Damascus for Vienna, where UN investigators will start questioning them on Monday.
Damascus has refused to identify the five but diplomatic sources said they include Syria's former intelligence chief in Lebanon, Lieutenant General Rustom Gazali.
One diplomatic source identified the rest as Lt Gen Thafer Yousuf, Lt Gen Abdul Karim Abbas, and Gazali's aide, Jamea Jamea. The fifth was a civilian official, a Syrian source said.
The Security Council has warned Syria to cooperate with the probe or face unspecified action, which could lead to sanctions.
Hoping to avert a showdown, Syria agreed last month to allow international investigators to question the men at UN offices in Vienna, after receiving guarantees from a permanent Security Council member that they would be allowed back to Syria.
Mehlis has said his team might ask to question more Syrian officials.
UN investigators have interviewed more than 500 people in connection with the case. On Mehlis's recommendation, Lebanon has also charged with murder four pro-Syrian Lebanese generals.
Meanwhile, Mehlis plans to submit a report to the Security Council on December 12, after which he will speak to the 15-nation body for the last time.
The statement said Mehlis had told Siniora in a meeting last week that he intended to quit his post by the end of the year. Annan promised Siniora during the call that he would do his best to persuade the German prosecutor to stay, it added.
"Annan told Prime Minister Siniora he would try to persuade Mehlis to stay in his post to complete his work on the investigation commission," Siniora's statement said.
The United States urged Annan on Friday to persuade Mehlis to continue leading the investigation into next year.
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