UN chief acts in Hariri murder probe

By Mark Turner 
November 15, 2005
Financial Times
Original Source: http://news.ft.com/cms/s/eaeb2728-562f-11da-b04f-00000e25118c.html

Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, has become directly involved in efforts to find an alternative site where international investigators can interview Syrian officials over the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri.
Detlev Mehlis, the UN investigator, is said to want to interview six officials in Beirut, but Damascus has rejected the proposal, warning that holding them there could stir destabilising “emotions and sensitivities”.
The UN said on Tuesday Mr Annan talked to Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, on Monday. Officials said Mr Annan was keen on finding a compromise which might avoid Mr Mehlis reporting Syria’s non-co-operation to the UN Security Council. That report could set in train action, including sanctions, under the UN’s Chapter 7 enforcement mechanisms.
In a November 14 letter to Tony Blair, the UK prime minister, Mr Assad said the legal adviser to Syria’s foreign ministry had met Mr Mehlis on November 9 in Beirut. He “proposed to him holding his investigations in any place he chose in Syria, which could be put at the disposal of the United Nations and raise its flag, or at UNDOF headquarters,” the letter said, referring to the UN mission in the Golan Heights.
He also said the investigations could be held at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, but, the letter said, “Mr Mehlis rejected the proposals, hinting that he would go back to the Security Council to claim that Syria did not co-operate with [the investigative committee].” The letter appealed for Mr Blair’s support to use the headquarters of the UN forces in the Golan.
If the interviews were not to be held in Lebanon, the most likely compromise would be for them to be held in Europe, possibly in UN facilities in Geneva or Vienna, according to an official.