Syria denied on Sunday that it has reached an agreement with a UN team over the venue of interrogation of the Syrian officers allegedly involved in the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, the official SANA news agency reported.

Foreign Ministry legal advisor Riyad al-Daoudi paid a visit to Beirut four days ago and held a meeting with Chief UN investigator Detlev Mehlis, but they did not reach an agreement on the venue and mechanism of the interrogation, a foreign ministry source was quoted as saying.

Mehlis refused to discuss the suggestion to carry out the questioning in Syria or under the umbrella of the Arab League in Cairo, the source said.

"Resolution 1636 doesn't necessarily mean that the investigation should be carried out outside Syria, but it could be in Syria or anywhere else," the source added.

Mehlis made a request through the United Nations to question six Syrian security and intelligence officials, reportedly including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law Assef Shawkat, in his headquarters in Beirut, which has been rebuffed by the Syrian side.

Mehlis submitted to the United Nations an interim report on Oct. 20, which implicated Syria in Hariri's murder. Damascus has strongly denied it and criticized it as politically motivated.

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1636 on Oct. 31, demanding Syria's full cooperation with the probe in Hariri's murder in February by a car bomb blast in Beirut, or face "further action".

President Assad, insisting innocence in the murder, said Syria would fully cooperate with the probe in a defiant speech on Thursday, but not at the expense of its national interests.

Source: Xinhua