The UN Security Council voted unanimously Monday in favour of a tough resolution demanding Syria co-operate with a UN probe into the death of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri or face possible punitive measures.

The resolution was adopted 15-0 after the principal drafters, the United States and France, agreed to delete a specific reference to economic sanctions. Instead the resolution would consider possible unspecified "further action" if Syria did not comply.

A dozen foreign ministers or their deputies from the 15 Security Council members traveled to New York for the meeting, underlying the importance of the vote.

The measure demands Syria co-operate "unconditionally" with a UN probe into the February 14 assassination in Hariri and orders Damascus to take into custody and make available to UN investigators people suspected of involvement in the killing.

It also calls for a financial freeze and travel ban on individual suspects to be named by a UN commission, headed by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, or the Lebanese Government. But any Security Council member can object to a name on such a list.

The death of Hariri, an opponent of Syrian domination of his country, transformed Lebanon's political landscape. The killing led Syria to pull out its troops from Lebanon after three decades and has put increasing pressure on Lebanon's pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud to resign.

A report by Mehlis in October accused Syrian security officials and their Lebanese allies of organizing the murder of Hariri.

Among names the report mentioned were General Assef Shawkat, brother-in-law of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and head of military intelligence, and the president's brother, Maher al-Assad.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cast the American vote in the Security Council and has sought to isolate Syria over the past year because of Lebanon. And she has accused Damascus of allowing foreign fighters to cross over its border to Iraq where more than 150,000 US troops are fighting a bloody insurgency.

Syria, which denies the accusations, sought Arab support during the weekend, sending its Deputy Foreign Minister Walid al-Mualem on a tour of Gulf States. On Saturday Assad said he would set up a Syrian commission to investigate Hariri's assassination.

The Syrian government newspaper Tishreen Monday urged the Security Council not to bow to US pressure and to pass a "balanced" resolution in connection with Hariri's murder.

Russia supports the UN investigation, but says it opposes attempts to exploit it to gain political advantage over Syria.

Source: China Daily