Syrians being questioned in Hariri case
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-06 15:35

U.N. investigators began questioning five Syrian officials Monday in connection with the assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri, an Arab diplomat said.

Tight security surrounded the closed-door inquiry in the Austrian capital. The diplomat who disclosed the questioning spoke on condition of anonymity because the envoy was not authorized to discuss the confidential proceedings. The interviews were expected to last until Wednesday.

Syria's U.N. ambassador, Fayssal Mekdad, declined to discuss details of the interviews but told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York that, "Syria will fully cooperate with the commission and our people are being interviewed.

"It is our hope that the interviews are professional, lead in a way to the uncovering of the truth and our people will give whatever information they have," he said.

After protracted wrangling and a U.N. Security Council warning to cooperate fully or face "further action" �� diplomatic code for sanctions �� Damascus recently agreed to let U.N. investigators question its officials outside of Syria.

Syria has denied any role in the Feb. 14 truck bombing that killed Hariri and 20 other people in Beirut.

The Syrian officials flew to Vienna on Sunday.

An interim U.N. commission report released in October implicated top Syrian and Lebanese security officials in Hariri's death. The investigation has since run into a series of obstacles.

A Syrian witness recently recanted testimony that had implicated Syrian officials in Hariri's killing. Lebanese opponents dismissed that development as a Syrian ploy to undermine the U.N. inquiry, but Syria has demanded a re-evaluation of the investigation's initial findings.

A man who was questioned about the sale of cell phone chips allegedly used in the bombing was found dead in what was ruled a car accident. One of four pro-Syrian security generals accused of involvement in the killing was hospitalized with heart problems. And the Syrian interior minister who ran Lebanon for two decades died in his office in Damascus in what Syrian officials declared a suicide.

Syria has tried to portray chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis' interim report as a document "politicized" by the United States to punish Syria for its positions on Lebanon, Iraq and the Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Lebanon has demanded a six-month extension of the U.N. inquiry, which expires on Dec. 15. No decision has been made on the extension request.

At U.N. headquarters in New York, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said after Mehlis presents his report next week, the Security Council will decide whether to extend the investigation.

Hariri's death sparked a wave of mass protests which, combined with international pressure, forced Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon in April, ending a 29-year military presence.