DAMASCUS, 26 November 2005 — Syria said yesterday it would allow UN investigators to question five officials at the UN offices in Vienna in connection with the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
“The Syrian leadership has agreed to his (chief UN investigator Detlev Mehlis) compromise proposal on holding the interviews of the five Syrian persons at the UN headquarters in Vienna,” Foreign Ministry official Walid Al-Moualem told a news conference.
Moualem said the date for the questioning would be set after contacts with Mehlis.
He said Syria dropped its demands for agreeing a legal framework for cooperation before allowing the questioning after receiving guarantees on the right of the individuals, who will be accompanied by legal representatives, and on the respect of Syria’s sovereignty. The official said the individuals, whose names were not released, would return to Damascus after the interviews.
UN spokeswoman Marie Okabe said Secretary-General Kofi Annan spoke with Mr. Mehlis who confirmed that he had reached agreement with the Syrian authorities on Vienna as a venue for the questioning of five Syrian officials.
A Security Council resolution on Oct. 31 demanded Syria cooperate fully with Mehlis or face unspecified further action.
Mehlis then summoned six top Syrian security officials, who according to Lebanese political sources include the brother-in-law of President Bashar Assad, for questioning in Lebanon — where he has power to arrest them.
Moualem and the ministry’s legal adviser Riad Al-Daoudi, who was present at the news conference, did not explain why five and not six individuals will be going to Vienna.
A Sudanese official leading a new mediation initiative had said late on Thursday Syrian officials want a “professional” UN probe into Hariri’s murder.
“All confirmed that they want the investigation conducted by the (UN) international commission to be professional,” Mustafa Osman Ismail told reporters in Cairo.
