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Washington's U.N.
ambassador, John Bolton, walked into the Security Council chamber Monday
morning saying Syria must be pushed to cooperate with the Hariri assassination
probe. "This is true confessions time now
for the government of Syria. No more obstruction, no more half measures,
we want substantive cooperation and we want it immediately," he said.
U.S. and French diplomats are backing what is said to be a strongly
worded resolution criticizing Syria's alleged involvement in the Hariri
assassination. U.S. officials want a ministerial-level Security Council
meeting to be held next Monday to consider action, and say Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice has already included the meeting in her schedule.
The report issued last Friday by U.N.-appointed investigator Detlev
Mehlis concluded that the bomb blast that killed Mr. Hariri could not have
been organized without high-level official Syrian involvement.
One version of the report that was accidentally sent to some reporters
named a brother and brother-in-law of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as
being present at a meeting where the assassination was planned. The report
also charged that Syria's foreign minister, Farouk al Sharaa, had tried to
mislead investigators.
Ambassador Bolton said he expects the Security Council to keep up the
pressure on Damascus. "I think there's a very high degree of unity, of
purpose, in the consultations we've had so far, to insist that, in
particular, the government of Syria fully cooperate with the Mehlis
Commission and not continue to obstruct the work of the Commission, and so
we'll be looking to see how to maintain that pressure," he said.
Several European ambassadors on the Security Council made similarly
strong statements, but the push for immediate action was far from
unanimous. Some key Council members, such as Russian envoy Andrei Denisov
urged a more cautious approach, signaling that consensus might be
difficult to achieve. "My government is always very cautious with such
sensitive issues as Syria/Lebanon," he said.
The chief investigator, Mr. Mehlis, is due to brief the Council Tuesday
concerning his investigation. But despite his damning evidence of Syrian
involvement in the Hariri killing, European diplomats Monday said it is
still too early to talk about sanctions against Damascus.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan Friday extended the Mehlis Commission's
work until mid-December. Speaking to reporters Monday, Mr. Annan said he
would withhold judgment until the investigation is complete. "In my
previous comment, I indicated that I felt that we are at the beginning of
a process, not at the end. The investigator has done his work and his work
is continuing. Then the magistrates and the judges will have to do theirs.
And so, we have some way to go yet," he said.
Mr. Annan said he was planning to raise the issue of Syria's
cooperation with investigators during a meeting Tuesday with Foreign
Minister Farouk al-Sharaa. But U.N. officials later said the Syrian
official was not coming to New York, and the meeting would not be held.
Syria has repeatedly denied any involvement in the February bomb blast
that killed Mr. Hariri and 20 others. Syrian officials Friday rejected the
findings of the Mehlis Commission, calling them "politically motivated
lies."
In the report, Mr. Mehlis said completion of his investigation depends
on the full cooperation of Syrian officials. He complained that Syria's
failure to cooperate had impeded his work, making it impossible to follow
leads established by the evidence. | 
