Syria has asked the United Nations to launch an inquiry into what it says was an attempt by a former U.N. investigator to implicate Damascus in the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
A letter from Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem, made available to reporters on Thursday, also said Damascus reserved the right to take legal action of its own against the prosecutor, Detlev Mehlis, and his assistant, Gerhard Lehmann.
Mehlis was appointed to head a U.N. inquiry, requested by Lebanon, into the February 2005 death of Hariri and 22 others in a Beirut car bombing. Mehlis, a German, left the job in early 2006, and the post has since changed hands twice.
The commission was used to target Syria politically
In an October 2005 report, Mehlis said there was "converging evidence pointing at both Lebanese and Syrian involvement in this terrorist act," which could not have been carried out without the knowledge of Lebanese and Syrian intelligence.
Syria denied responsibility, but the killing caused a worldwide outcry that forced an end to Syria's 29-year military presence in Lebanon.
Moualem said interviews given by one of four Lebanese officers held for nearly four years by Lebanese authorities over the killing before being released without charge in April showed Mehlis' anti-Syrian bias.
Implicating Syria
Syria reserves its right to take legal proceedings with regard to Detlev Mehlis ... and his assistant Gerhard Lehmann with regard to the injury they did to Syria by using perjured evidence and departing from the rules and principles of investigation
The statements of Major-General Jamil al-Sayyed made clear that the goal of Mehlis' investigation "had been, right from the start, to implicate the Syrian Arab Republic at any cost in the assassination," Moualem said.
"The commission was used to target Syria politically," he added in the letter addressed to the U.N. Security Council and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The letter, dated Sept. 8, called on Ban to "investigate the matter and the above-mentioned serious events" and inform Syria of the outcome of the inquiry.
Ban was asked by reporters on Thursday whether he intended to take up the matter. He said it was "not within my domain."
Moualem made clear that Damascus might take up the issue on its own if the United Nations did nothing.
"Syria reserves its right to take legal proceedings with regard to Detlev Mehlis ... and his assistant Gerhard Lehmann with regard to the injury they did to Syria by using perjured evidence and departing from the rules and principles of investigation," Moualem said.
He did not say in what court Syria might take such action.
Neither of Mehlis' successors, Serge Brammertz of Belgium and Daniel Bellemare of Canada, has explicitly repeated his accusations.
A court was set up in the Netherlands earlier this year to try the case, but no suspects have been indicted.
Comments »