US accuses Syria of delaying death probe
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-23 09:56

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton accused Syria on Tuesday of "delaying and obstructing" an investigation into the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister and demanded that Damascus allow six Syrian officials to be questioned.

Bolton said a resolution adopted by the U.N. Security Council on Oct. 31 was very clear in demanding "full and immediate Syrian cooperation" with the investigation led by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis. It warned Syria of possible "further action" if it refuses to cooperate with the probe, which has been extended until Dec. 15.

"We support Mehlis' investigative efforts, and we're not going to second-guess his techniques or his tactics," Bolton told several reporters. "But we are going to say clearly to the Syrians that they need to stop delaying and obstructing Mehlis' work."

Syria has objected to Mehlis' request to question six top Syrian officials in Lebanon, and has proposed alternative venues. It also has asked the U.N. investigating commission to formally detail the cooperation it requires in its interrogation and investigation.

Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa sent letters to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Security Council on Monday reiterating Syria's readiness to cooperate with the Mehlis commission. But he said "it is indispensable to define the bases and criteria for such cooperation" in a memorandum, which should include the presence of the suspects' lawyers and adherence to the Syrian legal system governing investigations, he said.

Bolton said the council's resolution "does not give the Syrians leave to negotiate or ask for mediators or others to deal with Mehlis."

"December 15th is getting closer every day and the Syrians know it, too. ... They'll write to anybody on their Rolodex. What we want is for them to make witnesses available to Mehlis," Bolton said.

A U.N. interim report into the Feb. 14 assassination implicated Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services, and accused Syria of only limited cooperation.

Syria has repeatedly denied any role in the Beirut bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 20 others, but Syria's opponents in Lebanon accuse Damascus of ordering the slaying because Hariri had increasingly resisted Syria's control of Lebanon.

Annan, who just returned from the Mideast, refused to respond to reports of U.S. criticism for allegedly interfering in the Mehlis investigation, saying Monday he has assisted the chief investigator by urging Syrian leaders to cooperate and encouraging "leaders in the region to urge Syria ... to cooperate fully."

But Bolton twice refused to support the secretary-general's actions and said the Syrians should cooperate with Mehlis "and not look for other people as a continuation of a pattern of obstruction."

Syria, which withdrew its soldiers from Lebanon in April under intense international pressure and ended a 29-year presence in its smaller neighbor, is facing separate U.S. pressure to stop Islamic radical fighters from crossing its borders into Iraq to join the insurgency.

"The critical element right now is the flow of foreign fighters across the border," Ambassador James Jeffrey, a senior adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said Tuesday.

"That could be largely stopped by the Syrian government if it wants to," he told Jordan-based reporters in a satellite conference from Washington, calling Syria an "immediate problem" to the fight against the insurgency.