US says UN report points to Syria over Hariri killing

The United States said on Friday a United Nations investigative report on the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri points to Syrian involvement as Hariri could not have been killed without Syrian approval.

"The report points to a conspiracy involving Syria ... It also concludes that there is probable cause to believe that the decision to assassinate former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri could not have been taken without the approval of top-ranked Syrian security officials, and could not have been organized without the collusion of their counterparts in the Lebanese security services, " State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said at a briefing.

The UN report, released on Thursday evening, linked Syria with the murder of Hariri and called on the Syrian authorities to cooperate with investigators.

"There is converging evidence pointing at both Lebanese and Syrian involvement in this terrorist act," said the report, referring to the Feb. 14 deadly bomb attack in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, which killed Hariri and 20 others.

Syria has denied it has any links to the killing of Hariri.

Source: Xinhua