Hariri says assassination plot by Syria uncovered

Cairo: Saad Al Hariri, the leader of Lebanon's anti-Syrian coalition said on Tuesday he had information about a plot to kill him and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, which he said was planned by a senior Syrian official.

Saad, son of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Al Hariri, said after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that Lebanese security agencies are investigating the information in cooperation with other Arab agencies.

Asked whether Assef Shawkat, the director of Syrian military intelligence and brother-in-law of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, was behind the alleged plot, he said: "We have information about this, and we're following up on it."

"It is accurate information, but the security agencies are working and there is cooperation between the Lebanese security agencies and Arab security agencies on the attempt to assassinate not just me, but also (Prime Minister) Siniora."

Shawkat is among 10 Syrian officials and Lebanese politicians Washington accuses of undermining the Lebanese government, and who are banned from entering the United States.

Asked about Hariri's comments, an official at the Beirut office of Siniora said: "It is true and we have been informed about it."

Saad has been leading Lebanese efforts to set up a UN-backed tribunal to judge those responsible for his father's death, saying earlier this month that "what is happening in Lebanon today is a destabilising coup."

Hariri said his talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo focused on the vote and "the interference of certain states to prevent the holding of these elections."

He said that the the most recent political assassinations came a few days after parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a member of the pro-Syrian opposition, appealed for dialogue.

"We feel that this is a way of undermining Lebanese dialogue and the Lebanese consensus," he said.

Hariri earlier this month appealed for increased international pressure to set up a court to try suspects in the assassination of his father.

"We asked for a harder position from the United Nations in the face of those assassinations," Hariri said told UN chief Ban Ki-moon in New York on October 9.