DAMASCUS, Nov 9: Syria has invited a United Nations investigator to Damascus to discuss cooperation with a probe into the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al Hariri, the state news agency SANA said on Wednesday.
Syria last month dismissed a UN report implicating its officials in the bombing that killed Hariri, saying it was politically motivated. A Security Council resolution demanded it cooperate fully with the probe or face unspecified action.
“As we hope that you would agree on the visit ... we propose in this regard the signing of a memorandum of understanding with your committee to achieve the desired cooperation,” Ghada Murad, head of a Syrian panel set up in October to investigate the killing, said in a letter to UN investigator Detlev Mehlis.
Ghada Murad, also Syria’s general prosecutor, told Mehlis her committee was ready “for full cooperation and coordination with you to find the truth that we all seek”, and that she wanted to discuss the best ways for cooperation between the two teams.
SANA said the letter was sent to Mehlis on Tuesday. UN officials in New York said the world body was aware of the Syrian invitation but had no comment.
The letter did not directly refer to a request by Mehlis to question six Syrian officials in Lebanon. A Lebanese source has said the six include Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s brother-in-law, Major General Asef Shawkat.
Shawkat, head of the powerful military intelligence who is married to Assad’s sister, Bushra, was among 10 Syrian officials interviewed in Damascus by the UN team in September. His name appeared in Mehlis’s report to the Security Council last month.
Syria has denied any involvement in Hariri’s death.
Assad will address the nation in a televised speech on Thursday, in which he will declare his desire to work with the UN probe and push ahead with political reforms.
But Assad is not expected to respond explicitly to Mehlis’s demand to question the six officers, Baath Party members said.
AL CHIEF: Earlier on Wednesday, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said after meeting Assad and Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara that he was optimistic about Syria’s cooperation with the UN investigators.
“Both in terms of coordination and cooperation, I am optimistic,” he told reporters.
In Beirut, a Lebanese political source said Damascus appeared willing to cooperate with Mehlis.—Reuters
