The UN inquiry into the assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, could take years unless Syria speeds up cooperation with the investigation, the head of the probe has said.
That's exactly what they want, so don't expect much in the way of cooperation... | In response, Fayssal Mekdad, Syria's UN ambassador told the UN Security Council his country had not hindered the investigation, led by Detlev Mehlis, a German prosecutor.
"We are ready to do whatever the commission requests us to do," Mekdad said on Tuesday. He said his foreign minister, Farouk al-Shara, welcomed a meeting with Mehlis. The Syrian ambassador gave his government's first response to a 25-page report Mehlis delivered to the council on Monday. He said his team had found new evidence implicating Syria in the truck bomb murder of al-Hariri and 22 others on 14 February, 2005 in Beirut. After the meeting, Mekdad told reporters: "We believe that this investigation will lead to the clearance of Syria because it is in our interest to find the truth. Syria has nothing do with this heinous crime."
"We're just not in a rush. Fresh evidence isn't the same as good evidence, y'know." |
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