UN quizzing Syrians in Austria over Hariri

VIENNA - UN investigators have begun questioning five Syrian officials under a cloak of secrecy in Vienna over the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, diplomatic sources said.

Syria, which denies any role in the killing, agreed to let investigators quiz the men at UN offices in the Austrian capital after getting guarantees from permanent UN Security Council member Russia that they could return to Damascus afterwards, diplomats said.

"This is the case," a diplomatic source said when asked if questioning had started, declining further comment.

The Security Council has warned Syria to cooperate with the probe or face unspecified action that could lead to sanctions.

An interim report in October by the chief UN investigator, Detlev Mehlis, suggested the February 14 truck bombing that killed Hariri and 22 other people in Beirut was planned by top Syrian security officials in Damascus and their Lebanese allies.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told France 3 television on Monday he had "no doubt" that Syria would be proven innocent of involvement in Hariri's killing.

"We are confident of our innocence. No criminal proof, and it is not in the interest of Syria to commit such an act," he said, adding there had been "some witnesses who have given false evidence ... to only serve one point of view in this inquiry...

"We first of all expect this inquiry to be professional and expect (it) to rectify the mistakes committed (to lead to) a fair and objective report which can tell the truth about this crime that cost the life of... Hariri."

Diplomats said the five officials being questioned in Vienna included Syria's former intelligence chief in Lebanon, Lt. Gen. Rustom Ghazali, before Damascus withdrew forces from its small neighbour in April after 29 years.

Ghazali was the first to be questioned, they said.

A diplomatic source named the others as Lt. Gen. Thafer Youssef, Lt. Gen. Abdul-Karim Abbas, and a Ghazali aide, Jamea Jamea. The fifth was a civilian official, a Syrian source said.

Diplomats said the questioning was expected to be carried out between December 5 and 7.

They said Mehlis could ask for the arrest of some of the five after they return home. Syria's reaction could determine whether Mehlis eventually declares it in breach of a Security Council resolution demanding cooperation with the investigation.

MORE THAN 500 QUESTIONED

UN investigators have interviewed more than 500 people over the killing and Mehlis, a German prosecutor, has said his team might ask to question more Syrian officials.

On Mehlis's recommendation, Lebanon has charged with murder four pro-Syrian Lebanese generals.

Lebanon's government has asked UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to extend the mandate for the inquiry for six months beyond the December 15 deadline and be open to further extensions.

The assassination of Hariri, a strong opponent of Syrian control over Lebanon, stirred an international outcry and weeks of Lebanese street protests that brought about Syria's pullout. It had sent forces into Lebanon in 1976 to quell a civil war.

Analysts say Assad faces a dilemma: rein in powerful figures in Syria's security apparatus whom he has never dominated as his late father Hafez al-Assad did, or do nothing and invite a ruinous showdown with the United Nations.

Inaction could expose Damascus to international isolation, sanctions and possibly attempts at "regime change", as its chief big power critic the United States calls it, they say.

- REUTERS