US presses for action against Syria

UNITED NATIONS—The United States on Monday demanded immediate cooperation from Syria with the UN investigation of the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri and said: “No more obstruction”.
“This is true confession time now for the government of Syria,” US Ambassador John Bolton told reporters. “No more obstruction. No more half-measures. We want substantive cooperation, and we want it immediately”.
A UN report on the investigation by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis last Thursday implicated high-ranking Syrian and Lebanese security officers as organizers of a carefully planned plot. It also said Syrian officials had given false statements and failed to cooperate with the probe.
Security Council ambassadors are scheduled to meet to discuss the report on Tuesday but no date has been set for a ministerial-level session wanted by the United States and Britain.
The two countries are also contemplating sanctions against Damascus but diplomats said such measures were not yet formulated. The envoys, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the bans might involve measures against people referred to in the report, such as a travel ban and assets freeze.
The first aim appeared to be insisting on Syria’s cooperation with the investigation, which has been extended until December 15.
Bolton said no resolution on this would be introduced at Tuesday’s meeting but he said, “We will certainly insist on Syrian cooperation”.
French Ambassador Jean-Marc Sabliere said, “What is important is to have an effective reaction of the council and we are working on it”.
France and the United States have led a diplomatic campaign that helped force Syria to end its 29-year troop presence in Lebanon in April. They were also instrumental in setting up the UN inquiry after Hariri’s death last February 14.
The first aim appeared to be insisting on Syria’s cooperation with the investigation, which has been extended until December 15. Hariri and 20 others were killed on February 14 by a bomb in Beirut. Mehlis’ report said the decision to kill Hariri “could not have been taken without the approval of top-ranked Syrian security officials” colluding with counterparts in Lebanon.—Agencies