Syrian envoy says full cooperation with UN over Hariri's killing

Syria's Ambassador to the United Nations Faisal Mekdad said on Friday that Syria has fully cooperated with a UN investigation committee into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the official SANA news agency reported.

"Syria has fully cooperated with the UN investigation committee and provided everything they needed," Mekdad was quoted as saying in a statement at the UN Headquarters.

"Syria has cooperated and will cooperate in the future with ( chief investigator Detlev) Mehlis in the framework of international and national laws," he said.

He said that the Mehlis report is political and accusations it carries have no solid basis nor credibility.

"There are some foreign ministers who have been working on some resolutions for three weeks as if they have already known every word in the report," Mekdad said.

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

The Syrian government has vehemently denied any involvement in the murder of Hariri in the Feb. 14 car bomb. Hariri had called for withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has claimed innocence in two interviews with western media, denying Syria's involvement in the killing.

Hariri's death led to renewed calls for withdrawal of all Syrian troops and intelligence agents that had been in Lebanon since the early stages of that country's 1975-1990 civil war.

Syria withdrew troops from neighboring Lebanon in April amid growing international pressure.

German prosecutor Mehlis was appointed in May by UN chief Kofi Annan chief investigator of an independent inquiry team to lead investigations in Lebanon and Syria.

Mehlis will brief the UN Security Council on investigations next Tuesday.

Source: Xinhua