November 22, 2008
Syria voices defiance on UN inquiry
President says 'We will play their game' during assassination probe but will stop if nation is harmed
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Syrian President Bashar Assad hinted yesterday he would not agree to the demands of a UN probe into the killing of a top Lebanese politician, setting up a possible showdown between Syria and the United Nations.
In a defiant, 80-minute speech at Damascus University, Assad said there would be limits to Syria's cooperation with UN investigator Detlev Mehlis. "We will play their game," he said, adding that Syrian assistance will "stop when Syria is going to be harmed."
Assad said Mehlis - who is investigating the Feb. 14 bombing that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri - has rejected Damascus' terms for interviewing six top Syrian officials, including Assad's brother-in-law, Assef Shawkat, head of Syrian military intelligence.
In a resolution approved last week, the UN Security Council demanded that Syria agree to any conditions set by Mehlis for interviewing its officials. If Syria does not cooperate, the council could take "further action," such as imposing economic sanctions.
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French President Jacques Chirac, whose country sponsored the resolution along with the United States and Britain, warned Syria that it is close to facing international isolation. If Assad "continues to refuse to listen, or understand, then it will become necessary to move to another level, which is that of sanctions," Chirac said in Paris.
U.S. officials also criticized Assad for his speech. If Mehlis "wants something, he should get it without delay and without complication," said Adam Ereli, a State Department spokesman. "It's not up to Syria to negotiate terms."
In an Oct. 20 report, Mehlis concluded that the decision to assassinate Hariri "could not have been taken without the approval of top-ranked Syrian security officials" and their Lebanese allies. A draft of the report named Assad's brother and brother-in-law as among the Syrian officials who plotted Hariri's killing. But Mehlis expunged the names from the report hours before it was released, saying they were meant for the Security Council's eyes only.
Assad continued yesterday to deny any Syrian involvement in the plot. But he braced Syrians for the prospect of Mehlis' next report on Dec. 15 accusing Damascus of stonewalling. "Whatever we do or say to cooperate, the response is just going to be that Syria is not cooperating," Assad said, drawing applause from the hand-picked crowd. "Syria is being targeted."
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