UN invited to Syria in Hariri probe
(AP )
Updated: 2005-09-04 10:07

"Mr. Mehlis is welcome in Damascus," Mekdad told Al-Arabiya TV by telephone from New York, adding that his country "has an interest in this investigation in order to eliminate all allegations and to prove that Syria has nothing to do at all with this case."

The arrest warrants against the four generals — among Lebanon's most powerful figures during Syria's three-decade control over Lebanon — were issued by Elias Eid, the Lebanese investigating magistrate who spent two days questioning them.

Eid accused the generals of "deliberate killings, participation in the planning, execution and bombing that led to the killing (of Hariri and 20 others) ..., carrying out terrorist acts and possession of arms and explosives," according to a senior court official who revealed the contents of the warrants to The Associated Press.

If officially charged on the basis of the accusations, the generals will face counts that carry the death penalty, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was unauthorized to speak to the media. Lebanese Prosecutor-General Said Mirza has issued preliminary criminal charges against the four generals.

The suspects are Brig. Gen., Mustafa Hamdan, current commander of the Presidential Guards; former General Security chief Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed; ex-director general of Internal Security Forces, Maj. Gen. Ali Hajj; and Brig. Gen. Raymond Azar, the former director general of military intelligence.

Mehlis, who left Beirut on Saturday to Geneva, has said there were no Syrian suspects so far in Hariri assassination, but the U.N. team has accused Damascus of refusing to turn over documents and ignoring interview requests.

Syria's invitation to Mehlis came a day after it was disclosed that Washington was reportedly planning to increase pressure on Syria to cooperate.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will try rally support when hosting European and Middle Eastern leaders during a meeting on the sidelines of the special session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York in two weeks, two senior U.S. officials said Friday.

Syrian President Bashar Assad will not be invited even though he is expected to attend the assembly session along with more than 100 government leaders, said the officials on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to announce Rice's plans.

Mehlis is scheduled to travel to New York to brief U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on the probe into Hariri's killing.

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