Syria agrees to U.N. questioning

[Judi Lynn]

Syria agrees to U.N. questioning
Friday, November 25, 2005 Posted: 1907 GMT (0307 HKT)

(CNN) -- Syria has agreed to permit U.N. investigators probing the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri to question five of its intelligence officers in Vienna.

The development -- disclosed Friday at a news conference in Damascus, where Deputy Foreign Minister Walid Moallem spoke to reporters -- broke a deadlock with the United Nations that had brought increasing pressure on Syria.
(snip)

Mehlis' commission issued an interim report last month that implicated Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services in the assassination.

Moallem told reporters that the breakthrough came after Syria received "guarantees concerning the rights of the individuals" and assurances that Syrian sovereignty would be respected, The Associated Press reported.
(snip/...)

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/11/25/hariri.un/

[Behind the Aegis]

1. Syria: UN can grill officials in Vienna

its officials over Rafik Hariri's assassination at the United Nations building in Vienna, Syria's deputy foreign minister said Friday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Walid Moallem told a news conference that the breakthrough in negotiations with the United Nations came after Syria received "reassurances" that its sovereignty will be respected.

A UN commission mandated by the Security Council is investigating the death of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed with 20 other people in a massive truck bombing in Beirut on Feb. 14. The commission, headed by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, issued an interim report last month that implicated Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services in the assassination.

"The (Syrian) leadership has decided to inform Mehlis that it accepts his suggestion, as a compromise, that the venue to listen to the five Syrian officials be the UN headquarters in Vienna," Moallem said.

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