The outgoing chief of the United Nations probe into the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said in an interview published Saturday he was convinced Syria was responsible for the murder.
Asked by the London-based Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat if he was "perfectly convinced of Syria's responsibility in the murder of Hariri," German magistrate Detlev Mehlis said "yes.”
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"The Syrian authorities are responsible," said Mehlis, who refused to go into details.
On Thursday Mehlis told CNN there was an obvious link between the spate of assassinations to have hit critics of Damascus since Hariri's killing in February.
"We will have to look and we are looking for links between the assassinations as, pretty obviously, there are links between all these assassinations that happened after the death of Hariri," he said.
“It seems that from the way they were all carried out there is a link between the assassinations, but I cannot determine whether they are linked to the Hariri murder.
The U.N. investigator released two reports into the assassination in October and this week which both cited evidence suggesting that Syrian and Lebanese intelligence officers were involved in Hariri's murder.
'New spirit needed'
The second report coincided with the murder in a devastating car bombattack of
anti-Syrian MP and press magnate Gibran Tueni.
Mehlis' mandate for the Hariri probe ended Thursday but he will stay on the job until his replacement is found.
Asked if he had been threatened during course of his investigation he said: "Well, let's say some people indicated to me there are threats but fortunately they haven't materialized."
“My reasons for leaving are personal and professional, in addition to the stringent security procedures I had been subject to for a long time,” Mehlis said.
“I agreed to take on the mission because the U.N. decision stated that it would end by December 15. My departure may even help the investigation; new ideas and a new spirit will be beneficial (to the probe),” he added.
Meanwhile, the Al-Quds el-Arab daily, also based in London, reported that a Belgian judge is considering to replace Mehlis as head of the U.N. investigation.
News agencies contributed to the report
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