Syria angrily rejects U.N. resolution
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-01 19:21

Rice pointed out that al-Sharaa himself was accused of lying in a letter to the Mehlis commission and said his intransigence showed Syria wanted to discredit the U.N. investigation even after a Security Council vote strongly supported it.

Though the resolution was significantly weakened, al-Sharaa was defiant in his response to the council. He accused Mehlis of essentially convicting Syria before it had faced trial.

"It proceeds from the presumption that Syria is accused of committing this crime rather than a presumption of innocence," al-Sharaa said. He insisted Assad's regime would "fully cooperate" with the Mehlis commission until it conclusively determines the perpetrators of the crime.

"I look forward to the full cooperation by the government of Syria in substance as well as form," Straw retorted. "But I have to say after what I've heard, I'm not holding my breath."

The three co-sponsors had to drop the explicit threat of economic sanctions to win unanimous support for the resolution at a rare meeting of the foreign ministers from most of the council's 15 members. Russia, China, Brazil and others had strongly opposed the sanctions threat.

"I would like to say that the message of the Security Council is particularly clear: Syria must cooperate with the Security Council otherwise there will be consequences," France's Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said. "Justice shall prevail."

The resolution marked the culmination of Security Council pressure for Syria to release its grip on its tiny neighbor in the months since Hariri's assassination.

Syria controlled Lebanon for nearly 30 years with a military presence of thousands — and at times tens of thousands — of troops. But Hariri's assassination brought massive anti-Syrian protests by Lebanese coupled with intense international pressure that forced Assad to withdraw all of his troops last spring, just months after the killing.

The beleaguered Assad government sought to rally regional support on Monday, calling for an emergency Arab League summit. But Arab diplomats said it was unlikely that many of the 22 member nations would agree to a meeting for fear of harming ties with the U.S., Britain and France.

Boutros Assaker, the acting secretary-general in Lebanon's foreign ministry, told the Security Council his country had entered a new phase in its history and was trying "to consolidate its political independence" and enhance its sovereignty.

What the Lebanese people want, he said, "is the truth, the whole truth ... of this heinous, terrorist crime."

Assad on Saturday ordered a judicial committee be formed to investigate Hariri's assassination — a point stressed by al-Sharaa. A presidential decree said the committee will cooperate with the U.N. probe and Lebanese judicial authorities.