US increases diplomatic pressure on Syria following Hariri assassination's investigation
The Bush administration has launched the process of taking further diplomatic action against Syria following the defection of a former Syrian officer and new disclosures that purportedly link Damascus with the assassination of Rafiq Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister.
US officials said last night that Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, and Stephen Hadley, national security adviser, met Terje Roed-Larsen, special UN envoy to the Middle East, late on Tuesday to examine new evidence related to last February's bombing in Beirut.
The officials provided no details but one said they had examined "new, stronger linkage", while a second said the "ball is moving" and that responsibility for Hariri's killing went "high up the [Syrian] food chain".
Syria has denied any involvement in the bombing, which killed 21 people. Nonetheless, mass protests in Beirut and international pressure on Damascus backed by UN resolutions forced Syria to end its 29-year presence in Lebanon. Syrian troops and most intelligence officers withdrew in April.
According to western and Lebanese sources, a former Syrian officer recently defected and has been providing information to the UN team investigating the Hariri assassination.
The defector is believed to have been privy to sensitive intelligence information. US officials declined to comment on the reported defection.
On the request of Detlev Mehlis, the German prosecutor leading the UN team, Lebanese authorities detained on Tuesday pro-Syrian senior security chiefs who were serving at the time of the Hariri assassination, including Mustafa Hamdan, still the head of Lebanon's presidential guard. Nasser Qandil, a former pro-Syrian MP, was questioned but released yesterday.
The detentions were the first big development in the three-month investigation. Lebanese newspapers reported yesterday that two houses in south Beirut had been searched following the detentions amid suspicion that they might have been used in the Hariri plot.
Mr Mehlis told the UN Security Council in a report last week that Syria had not responded to requests for documents and interviews, delaying the investigation.
The UN team's mandate expires in two weeks but UN officials have said Mr Mehlis may ask for an extension of a few weeks to conclude his inquiry. Analysts in Washington say the Bush administration wanted international backing for a policy that was in effect aimed at destabilising the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which the US also accuses of not doing enough to prevent support reaching insurgents inside Iraq.
source: Financial Times
US officials said last night that Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, and Stephen Hadley, national security adviser, met Terje Roed-Larsen, special UN envoy to the Middle East, late on Tuesday to examine new evidence related to last February's bombing in Beirut.
The officials provided no details but one said they had examined "new, stronger linkage", while a second said the "ball is moving" and that responsibility for Hariri's killing went "high up the [Syrian] food chain".
Syria has denied any involvement in the bombing, which killed 21 people. Nonetheless, mass protests in Beirut and international pressure on Damascus backed by UN resolutions forced Syria to end its 29-year presence in Lebanon. Syrian troops and most intelligence officers withdrew in April.
According to western and Lebanese sources, a former Syrian officer recently defected and has been providing information to the UN team investigating the Hariri assassination.
The defector is believed to have been privy to sensitive intelligence information. US officials declined to comment on the reported defection.
On the request of Detlev Mehlis, the German prosecutor leading the UN team, Lebanese authorities detained on Tuesday pro-Syrian senior security chiefs who were serving at the time of the Hariri assassination, including Mustafa Hamdan, still the head of Lebanon's presidential guard. Nasser Qandil, a former pro-Syrian MP, was questioned but released yesterday.
The detentions were the first big development in the three-month investigation. Lebanese newspapers reported yesterday that two houses in south Beirut had been searched following the detentions amid suspicion that they might have been used in the Hariri plot.
Mr Mehlis told the UN Security Council in a report last week that Syria had not responded to requests for documents and interviews, delaying the investigation.
The UN team's mandate expires in two weeks but UN officials have said Mr Mehlis may ask for an extension of a few weeks to conclude his inquiry. Analysts in Washington say the Bush administration wanted international backing for a policy that was in effect aimed at destabilising the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which the US also accuses of not doing enough to prevent support reaching insurgents inside Iraq.
source: Financial Times
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