U.N. to Syria: Cooperate fully

Threat of sanctions removed from proposal, paving way to Security Council resolution calling on Syria to fully cooperate with investigation into assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri

Associated Press|Published: 10.31.05 , 19:02

The Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Monday demanding Syria’s full cooperation with a U.N. Investigation into the assassination of Lebanon’s former prime minister and warning of possible “Further action” If it doesn’t.

The United States, France and Britain pressed for the resolution following last week’s tough report by a U.N. Investigating commission, which implicated top Syrian and Lebanese security officials in the Feb. 14 bombing that killed Rafik Hariri and 20 others.

The report also accused Syria of not cooperating fully with the probe. The three co-sponsors agreed to drop a direct threat of sanctions against Syria to get support from Russia and China, which opposed sanctions while the investigation is still under way. Nonetheless, the resolution was adopted under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter which is militarily enforceable.

The United States invited foreign ministers of the 15 Security Council nations to attend the meeting, and a dozen showed up and raised their hands to send a strong message to Syria to cooperate with the probe led by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis.

The resolution requires Syria to detain anyone the U.N. Investigators consider a suspect and let investigators determine the location and conditions under which the individual would be questioned. It also would freeze assets and impose a travel ban on anyone identified as a suspect by the commission.

Those provisions could pose a problem for Syrian President Bashar Assad as well as his brother, Maher Assad, and his brother-in-law, Assef Shawkat, the chief of military intelligence. The Syrian leader refused a request from Mehlis to be interviewed, and investigators also want to question his brother and brother-in-law.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the council after the vote that Syria had been put on notice by the international community that it must cooperate.

“Syria has offered no truthful explanations to these serious allegations,” she said. “Instead it has chosen until now to dismiss the commission report as politically motivated.”