Syrian President Bashar al-Assad promised today to co-operate with a UN inquiry into the killing of a former Lebanese prime minister but said Syria would not sacrifice its national interest in the process.
Mr Assad, in a defiant speech carried live on Syrian television, made clear he believed the UN mission was part of a wider international game to force Damascus to its knees.
"No matter what we do and how much we co-operate, the result after a month will be that 'Syria did not co-operate' . . . but we have to do our duty," Mr Assad said at Damascus University.
Syria's president Bashar al-Assad speaking in Damascus University today
Repeating that Syria had no hand in the February 14th killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, he said he would not let co-operation with the UN investigation damage Syria's security and stability.
"The issue is not criminal any more, let's not waste time thinking about this. Syria is not involved either on a state level or on individual one," Mr Assad said in a 75-minute speech.
He did not refer directly to a request by chief UN investigator Detlev Mehlis to question six Syrian officials in Lebanon. They include Assef Shawkat, the president's powerful brother-in-law and military intelligence chief.
Mr Assad said Syria had done its best to secure its border with Iraq in its own interest, not just in response to US requests. The United States accuses Syria of allowing foreign insurgents to cross its border into Iraq, supporting Palestinian and Lebanese militants, and continued meddling in Lebanon.
Mr Mehlis has until December 15th to complete his inquiry and report to the Security Council. In an interim report last month he criticised Syria for not co-operating properly with his mission.
That report spoke of evidence pointing to Syrian and Lebanese involvement in Mr Hariri's killing and said it would be hard to imagine how such a plot could have gone ahead without the knowledge of Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services.
Mr Assad dismissed the report as politically motivated.