Damascus, Syria – Under mounting international pressure, Syrian President Bashar Assad has promised that any Syrian accused will face trial if “proved by concrete evidence” to have a role in the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, according to a copy of a letter obtained Tuesday and sent to the United States, Britain and France.
The pledge, in a letter from Assad dated Sunday, is the most substantive response yet by Syria to the U.N. investigation into Hariri’s death.
That investigation concluded that senior Syrian officials almost certainly had a role in the Feb. 14 car-bomb assassination in Beirut.
Midlevel officials here have sought to dismiss the report as unprofessional and politicized, although Assad has not commented in public.
The letter denied any Syrian role in the killing but suggested the government would cooperate to deflect criticism.
The U.N. Security Council began discussing the U.N. investigation Tuesday.
The United States and France called on Syria on Tuesday to detain government officials suspected of involvement in the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister and ensure their cooperation with the U.N. probe or face possible sanctions.
The demand was contained in a draft resolution. The document orders Syria to detain officials or individuals considered possible suspects “and make them fully and unconditionally available” to the U.N. investigating commission.
It states that Syria must allow the commission to interview Syrians whom it considers relevant to the inquiry “outside Syria and/or outside the presence of any other Syrian official if the commission so requests.”
If Syria does not fully cooperate with the investigation, the draft says, the council intends to consider “further measures,” including sanctions, to ensure compliance.
“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.
But he also warned against using the U.N. report as a political tool to pressure Syria. “Such use of this report will have big, serious repercussions on the already tense situation which our region goes through,” said the copy of the letter, provided by diplomatic sources in Damascus.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
