The United States is opposed to any deal in the trial by an international tribunal of suspects in the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday.
"I don't think that it would be appropriate to suggest that we might be willing to limit the scope of this tribunal on the assassination of Rafiq Hariri ... because it might somehow implicate either the (Syrian) regime or the Assad family."
"I think that would be a very bad step. I think it would be badfor Lebanon, and bad for international justice," she told the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Rice made the remarks when Senator Arlen Specter calls for launching negotiations with Syrian to gain political progress in the region in exchange for reduced sentences in the case.
Hariri was killed in a massive Beirut bomb blast on Feb. 14, 2005. There were allegations that Syrian officials were involved in the assassination. Syria categorically denies the accusation.
The killing of Hariri led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanese soil, ending Syria's military presence 15 years after the end of the country's civil war.
Source:Xinhua
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