Assad to work with UN, but on own terms

By Kim Ghattas 
November 11, 2005
Financial Times
Original Source: http://news.ft.com/cms/s/45630e6e-5257-11da-9ca0-0000779e2340.html
Bashar al-Assad, Syrian president, yesterday delivered a defiant televised address declaring his readiness to co-operate with a United Nations probe into the killing of Lebanon's former prime minister, but not at the expense of his country's national interests.
In an apparent attempt to project an image of strength at home, at a time of mounting international pressure, Mr Assad described the UN investigation into the February assassination of Rafiq Hariri as a game that Syria was willing to play for now.
We are ready to co-operate within a framework that will lead to uncovering the crime, he said, adding, however, that we will be not killing ourselves under pressure.
Jacques Chirac, French president, warned after the speech that Paris would support the imposition of UN sanctions against Damascus if Mr Assad failed to co-operate with the UN probe. If they persist in not wanting to listen or understand then it will be necessary to go to another stage, which is sanctions, he said. It is not conceivable, admissible, acceptable for the international community . . . that Syria refuses to co-operate.
A UN report last month said there was converging evidence pointing to the involvement of top Syrian and Lebanese security officials in the assassination of Mr Hariri, a popular politician who had stood up to Damascus. A UN Security Council resolution passed 10 days ago demanded full Syrian co-operation with the UN probe and threatened further action if Damascus did not comply. It gave Detlev Mehlis, the chief UN investigator, vast powers to conduct his next stage of the investigation in Syria.
Mr Mehlis's request last week for six Syrian officers to be sent to his headquarters in Lebanon for interviews was the first test of Damascus's co-operation. The six include Assef Chawkat, the president's brother-in-law and head of military intelligence.
Syria, however, has sought to set its own terms of co-operation. In the auditorium of Damascus University, Mr Assad said Mr Mehlis had turned down a proposal to interrogate the Syrian men at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo and had rejected a Syrian invitation to visit Damascus to discuss means of co-operation. He claimed Syria was the victim of a foreign plot and that no matter how much co-operation it provided it would still be accused of obstructing the investigation.
Mr Assad's speech had been billed as an opportunity to ease Syria's crisis with the world community. But the president appeared in no mood to compromise.
However, some analysts said that after his last defiant speech, in March, Mr Assad bowed to international demands and withdrew troops from Lebanon.
John Bolton, US ambassador to the UN, said he had not read the full statement, but what we want are not speeches or words. We want co-operation, full and complete.