Heat Turned Up On Syria

[Said1]

Heat turned up on Syria

Heat Turned Up on Syria



Tuesday, October 25, 2005 Posted at 9:08 PM EDT

Associated Press

United Nations — The United States, France and Britain on Tuesday demanded that Syria detain government officials suspected of involvement in the assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister and ensure their co-operation with a UN probe or face possible sanctions.

The call was contained in a strongly worded draft resolution that orders Syria to make the suspected officials or individuals “fully and unconditionally available” to investigators who have accused Syria of obstructing their work.

That language was a clear attempt to pressure Syria into giving the probe access to top security officials — possibly including the brother-in-law of President Bashar Assad — who may have been involved in the Feb. 14 assassination of Rafik Hariri.

A report released last week implicated top Syrian and Lebanese security officials in the assassination. Syria hotly denies those claims.

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The central challenge now for the resolution will be getting the support of Russia and China, which have been hesitant to use the threat of sanctions to back up a call for more Syrian co-operation.

U.S. President George W. Bush insisted Tuesday that the United Nations hold Syrian leaders “accountable for their continuing support of terrorism.”

Yet Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a phone conversation Tuesday with Mr. Assad, welcomed Syria's stated willingness to co-operate with the investigation and emphasized that the council must proceed carefully.

The two discussed the “urgent need for cautious action by the international community in order to prevent the emergence of new sources of tension in the region,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

The new draft spells out a list of stern measures against Syria.

It would slap an immediate travel ban and asset freeze on suspects identified by the commission.

It states that Syria must allow interviews to take place outside the country and without Syrian official presence — a key concern of the chief UN investigator, Detlev Mehlis.

If Syria does not fully co-operate with the investigation, the draft says the council intends to consider “further measures,” including sanctions, “to ensure compliance by Syria.”

In an appearance before the council earlier Tuesday, Mr. Mehlis urged Syria to help “fill in the gaps” about who orchestrated the car bombing that killed Mr. Hariri and 20 other people in Beirut.

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