UN asks to meet Assad over Hariri killing

SYRIA: The UN commission investigating the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri has asked for meetings with Syria's president Bashar Assad and foreign minister Farouk Sharaa.

"The commission will also seek to interview [ former Syrian vice president Abdel Halim] Khaddam as soon as possible," spokeswoman Nasrat Hassan said yesterday. Although she said the commission was awaiting a reply, Ammar Ghanem, chairman of the Syrian parliament's foreign affairs committee, said no formal request had been received.

Once it arrives, it will be considered seriously, he said.

The invitations were made public only 48 hours after Mr Khaddam stated in a televised interview that Dr Assad had threatened Mr Hariri several months before his murder on February 14th because he opposed the extension of the term in office of Lebanese president Emile Lahoud, a Syrian ally.

In the immediate aftermath of Mr Hariri's death, Mr Khaddam, then vice president, accused Israel of being behind the operation. He was retired in June and his property in Syria was confiscated in November as part of an anti-corruption drive.

Damascus, which denies involvement in the crime, has said it is prepared to co-operate fully with the commission as long as requests do not, to quote Mr Ghanem, "compromise the country's sovereignty or dignity". These conditions could be raised to deny access to Dr Assad since no other Arab ruler has ever been summoned for questioning by a foreign body. The commission submitted a similar request last summer and was refused.

The commission interrogated Dr Assad's brother-in-law, Asef Shawkat, head of military intelligence, last autumn. He and Dr Assad's brother, Maher, the commander of the presidential guard, were said to be implicated in the conspiracy in the commission's initial interim report submitted to the UN Security Council last October.