UN Trying To Get Syria Off The Ropes

[Annie]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050325/ap_on_re_mi_ea/un_lebanon_investigation

U.N.: Hariri Assassination Probe Flawed

4 minutes ago Middle East - AP


By NICK WADHAMS, Associated Press Writer

UNITED NATIONS - A U.N. report on the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri says Lebanese authorities bungled, if not outright manipulated, their probe of his death and demands a new international investigation.


The report does not directly blame Syria for the assassination of Hariri, an opponent of the Syrian presence in Lebanon, but says Damascus was behind the political tension and weak security that led to his death — and that of 17 other people — in a huge explosion on Feb. 14.


"Clearly, Mr. Hariri's assassination took place on the backdrop of his power struggle with Syria, regardless of who carried out the assassination and with what aim," the report released Thursday says. The U.N.-backed investigation was led by deputy Irish police commissioner Peter Fitzgerald.


Opposition leaders and foreign officials fear Hariri was killed for opposing pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, who was allowed to stay in office for another term after parliament rewrote the constitution with Syria's approval.


Hariri had also supported Security Council resolution 1559, which demanded Syria withdraw its forces from Lebanon. It also said the council hoped Lebanon's upcoming elections would be free of foreign influence — a reference to Syria, which has held enormous political influence in Lebanon since its troops entered the country in 1976...