Damascus, Syria – A top legal adviser to the Syrian government signaled Wednesday that his nation would cooperate with an investigation into the assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister, though he harshly criticized a U.N. investigator for bringing Syria to the brink of international sanctions.
Riad Daoudi suggested, however, that it was unlikely investigators would be permitted to question Syrian President Bashar Assad or that the country’s top intelligence officials would be held in custody as demanded in a proposed U.S.- backed resolution expected to be voted on by the U.N. Security Council next week.
In an interview in his office, Daoudi was defiant against Western pressure and what he described as a politically motivated report that links Syria to the assassination of former Lebanese leader Rafik Hariri.
He indicated Damascus was willing to provide fuller disclosure to U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis. But he listed several caveats that might conflict with the Security Council’s demand for “substantive” cooperation.
“We’re ready to cooperate with Mehlis, but he has to show us evidence and truth,” Daoudi said.
Mehlis’ preliminary report to the U.N. last week found “converging evidence” that Syrian and pro-Syrian Lebanese intelligence officials planned the truck-bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others in February.
After he briefed the Security Council on Tuesday, Mehlis said Syria obstructed his investigation and provided no documents related to the attack.
The Mehlis report named Gen. Asef Shawkat, Assad’s brother-in-law and the head of Syrian military intelligence, and other Syrian government officials as suspects.
