Syrian President Bashar Assad, in a letter sent to Washington, London and Paris, pledged to bring to trial any Syrian linked to the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Harari, the Washington Post said yesterday.
Assad, in the letter dated Sunday, denied involvement by his government in the Feb. 14 car bombing and warned that any international pressure brought to bear on Syria would have "serious repercussions" in the region.
Assad's letter, a copy of which the daily obtained in Damascus from diplomatic sources, is aimed at US and French moves in the UN Security Council to press for full Syrian cooperation in a UN probe that has implicated senior Syrian and Lebanese security officials in Harari's death.
"I have declared that Syria is innocent of this crime, and I am ready to follow up action to bring to trial any Syrian who could be proved by concrete evidence to have had connection with this crime," Assad said in the letter.
Assad's letter suggested that his government would cooperate in the UN investigation to deflect criticism, the Washington Post said.
However, the Syrian leader warned against the UN report being used as a political tool to pressure Syria. The Security Council is currently split on whether to impose sanctions to force Syrian cooperation or wait for the UN report to be completed on Dec. 15.
The pledge to prosecute any Syrian proved implicated in Harari's murder is, according to the daily, Assad's "most substantive response" to the report by UN chief investigator Detlev Mehlis.
Diplomatic sources told the Post that two versions of Assad's letter were delivered: one with the pledge to prosecute was sent to Washington, London and Paris, while another omitting the pledge was sent to other Security Council members.
The US, France and Britain challenged the rest of the Security Council to adopt a tough resolution against Syria which would threaten sanctions if Damascus fails to cooperate fully with the UN.
The pressure on Syria was likely to intensify yesterday when a report by the UN special envoy on Syria-Lebanon, Terje Roed-Larsen, on disarming Lebanese militias was released. There are allegations that Syria is continuing to smuggle arms to Palestinian militia groups in Lebanese refugee camps, in violation of a council resolution adopted in September last year demanding that all militias be disarmed.
But how tough the Security Council will be on Damascus remains to be seen. Russia and China, which as permanent members have veto power, and Algeria, the only Arab member of the council, have been hesitant to use the threat of sanctions to back up a call for more Syrian cooperation.
A draft resolution circulated late on Tuesday by the US, France and Britain strongly backs a report by the UN investigating commission which implicated top Syrian and Lebanese security officials in Hariri's assassination and accused Syria of not cooperating fully with the probe.
But Damascus is certain to be unhappy about many of the demands it would face if the draft resolution is adopted.
It would require Syria to detain anyone the UN investigators consider a suspect and allow the individual to be questioned outside the country or without Syrian officials present.
It would also immediately freeze the assets and impose a travel ban on anyone identified as a suspect by the commission.
also see story:
The end of Assad may not be so clear-cut
‘UNUSUAL EVENT’: The Australian defense minister said that the Chinese navy task group was entitled to be where it was, but Australia would be watching it closely The Australian and New Zealand militaries were monitoring three Chinese warships moving unusually far south along Australia’s east coast on an unknown mission, officials said yesterday. The Australian government a week ago said that the warships had traveled through Southeast Asia and the Coral Sea, and were approaching northeast Australia. Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles yesterday said that the Chinese ships — the Hengyang naval frigate, the Zunyi cruiser and the Weishanhu replenishment vessel — were “off the east coast of Australia.” Defense officials did not respond to a request for comment on a Financial Times report that the task group from
Asian perspectives of the US have shifted from a country once perceived as a force of “moral legitimacy” to something akin to “a landlord seeking rent,” Singaporean Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen (黃永宏) said on the sidelines of an international security meeting. Ng said in a round-table discussion at the Munich Security Conference in Germany that assumptions undertaken in the years after the end of World War II have fundamentally changed. One example is that from the time of former US president John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address more than 60 years ago, the image of the US was of a country
BLIND COST CUTTING: A DOGE push to lay off 2,000 energy department workers resulted in hundreds of staff at a nuclear security agency being fired — then ‘unfired’ US President Donald Trump’s administration has halted the firings of hundreds of federal employees who were tasked with working on the nation’s nuclear weapons programs, in an about-face that has left workers confused and experts cautioning that the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE’s) blind cost cutting would put communities at risk. Three US officials who spoke to The Associated Press said up to 350 employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) were abruptly laid off late on Thursday, with some losing access to e-mail before they’d learned they were fired, only to try to enter their offices on Friday morning
CONFIDENT ON DEAL: ‘Ukraine wants a seat at the table, but wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have a say? It’s been a long time since an election, the US president said US President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and added that he was more confident of a deal to end the war after US-Russia talks. Trump increased pressure on Zelenskiy to hold elections and chided him for complaining about being frozen out of talks in Saudi Arabia. The US president also suggested that he could meet Russian President Vladimir Putin before the end of the month as Washington overhauls its stance toward Russia. “I’m very disappointed, I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when asked about the Ukrainian
RSS