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Syria angrily rejects U.N. resolution
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-01 19:21
The resolution came less than two weeks after lead investigator Detlev Mehlis
released his report concluding it was not likely Hariri could have been killed
without senior Syrian approval. The report accused Syria of not cooperating
fully in the probe and Mehlis asked U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan for more
time to pursue leads.
The resolution requires Syria to detain anyone considered a suspect by U.N.
investigators.
Mehlis, whose mandate has been extended to Dec. 15, has also been given new
authority by the council, and could seek to use it immediately. He is likely to
seek to question Syrian President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law and chief of
military intelligence Assef Shawkat, who has been implicated in the killing as
well as the president's brother Maher Assad, who is also under suspicion.
Diplomats said al-Sharaa's reaction underscored Syria's isolation and
highlighted the necessity for the warning to Damascus.
Straw said any council member concerned about adopting the resolution under a
U.N. charter provision which is militarily enforceable should have their
misgivings allayed by al-Sharaa's response.
"It sends a very strong signal to Syria of its isolation, but of course that
signal was simply reinforced by the really unbelievable tirade of Syria's
Foreign Minister, Mr. al-Sharaa," Rice told reporters after the council vote.
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