Syria has fully cooperated with a UN probe into the killing of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, a top Syrian official said, three days before a report about the assassination is presented to the UN.
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Walid Muallem stated that there is "no reason for the Security Council to take measures against Syria. Syria has fully cooperated with the international commission of enquiry ... to cut the road to those who would try to use this enquiry to political ends against Syria and the region," Muallem told journalists on Saturday.
"Nothing could justify Security Council measures against Syria," he said, adding that "Syria is innocent of this crime."
Meanwhile, Syria has launched a popular campaign to gather one million signatures on a letter directed to the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan. The letter stressed Syria's "civilized role and human message" and rejected any bid to use the UN investigation for political goals and aims.
"The United Nations should not allow using the investigation as a pretext to exert pressures on Syria in order to deviate her away from her firm stances regarding Arab just issues," the letter said.
The letter underlined that Syria had sacrificed thousands of its soldiers for Lebanon to preserve the country's unity and liberating its occupied lands, "Syria contributed a lot in building Lebanon's institutions and preserving its stability and she is the first hurt from the crime of assassinating Lebanese ex-premiere Rafik al-Hariri."
