The UN commission probing the killing of Lebanese ex-Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri has asked to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara, its spokeswoman said today.
"The commission has already sent a request to interview Syrian President Assad and Foreign Minister Shara, among others," the spokeswoman said.
UN investigators will also try to meet former Vice President Abdel-Halim Khaddam as soon as possible, the spokeswoman said.
There was no comment from Syrian authorities.
Mr Khaddam, now living in Paris after resigning in June, said in a television interview that Mr Assad had threatened Mr Hariri months before his February 14 assassination in Beirut. The Syrian president has previously denied such claims.
"What Mr Khaddam said corroborates information the commission has received and said in two reports," said the spokeswoman, who asked not to be named. She declined to give further details.
A UN interim report in October said Mr Shara had given the commission "false information" by describing a meeting between Mr Assad and Mr Hariri as friendly, contrary to several Lebanese witnesses who said the president had threatened Mr Hariri.
The inquiry has already implicated senior Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies in the killing that sparked mass anti-Syrian protests in Beirut, forcing Damascus to bow to world pressure and withdraw its troops from Lebanon in April.
Syria has strongly denied any role in the crime. A UN Security Council resolution in October threatened Damascus with unspecified action if it fails to cooperate with the investigation.