Damascus 'cooperating with inquiry'

United Nations: Syria has been complying with nearly all requests for assistance from the UN panel probing the murder of Lebanon's former premier Rafik Hariri, a UN report said yesterday.

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"The Syrian Government has, in particular in the last three months, formally complied with nearly all of the commission's previous requests for assistance," said the report by chief investigator Serge Brammertz.

"Despite these encouraging steps, it is important to note that the commission will ultimately judge cooperation of Syrian authorities on the merits of the information provided," it added.

The report referred to the killing as a highly complex "terrorist operation" and said those involved in carrying it out appeared to be "very professional" in their approach.

But it said the inquiry was in a particularly delicate stage and it could not yet name the perpetrators, even though an earlier report had tied the crime to Syrian security officials and their Lebanese counterparts.