WASHINGTON, April 18: US President George Bush said on Tuesday he wanted to see justice done in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al Hariri, after talks on Tuesday with Lebanon’s current prime minister.

In a show of support for Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who is a member of Lebanon’s anti-Syrian majority coalition, Mr Bush also cited the country as an example of the type of democratic change he wants to see in the Middle East.

A UN investigation has implicated senior Syrian security officials in Mr Hariri’s killing in February last year. Syria denied involvement but has been facing US-led efforts to isolate it.

“We talked about the need to make sure that there is a full investigation on the death of former prime minister Hariri. And we’ll work with the international community to see that justice is done,” Mr Bush told reporters after his talks with Mr Siniora in the Oval Office.

Mr Hariri and 22 others were killed in a Feb 14, 2005, truck bombing in Beirut that UN investigators concluded could not have been carried out without the approval of top-ranked Syrian security officials.

A UN investigative commission looking into the murder has not identified the killers.—Reuters