The United Nations report into the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri is reliable, "objective and very professional," said Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faiser Mekdad on Wednesday.
Despite the minister's approval of the probe currently, Mekdad also criticized former UN chief investigator, Detlev Mehlis, for allowing the media to pre-judge the outcome of the inquiry before the investigation's completion, reported Xinhuanet, quoting Al Thawra.
He added that as opposed to the reports by Mehlis, the report by Brammertz, who succeeded Mehlis as UN investigator, did not lead to such circumstances.
A report released on Tuesday by the UN maintained that Syria has complied with almost all requests for assistance from the UN commission. Tuesday's report is the first since Brammertz replaced Mehlis this past January.
"The Syrian government has, in particular in the last three months, formally complied with nearly all of the Commission's previous requests for assistance," it said.
Two reports accusing Syria of not cooperating with the UN investigation into the Feb. 2005 bombing which killed Hariri and 22 others had been presented by Mehlis.
As a result, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1636 last October, demanding that Syrian cooperate fully with the probe.
Though Syria has denied any role in the death of Hariri, many in Lebanon feel that Damascus was behind attacks against Hariri and others other anti-Syrian figures in Lebanon.
As a result of intense Lebanese outrage, Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon in April 2005, ending 29 years of military occupation.
© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
