Syria asks for U.N. help on Hariri

[bemildred]

DAMASCUS, Syria (CNN) -- Syria has asked U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to intervene and help broker a cooperation agreement between Damascus and an inquiry into the killing of Lebanese ex-premier Rafik Hariri.

The Syrian call in a letter by Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara came after a meeting last week between a Syrian legal advisor and chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis appeared to have failed to agree on the venue and legal framework for the questioning of six senior Syrian security officials.

"The foreign minister's letter asked the help of the president of the (U.N.) Security Council and the U.N. secretary-general in agreeing a cooperation protocol with the Syrian government," a foreign ministry official said in a statement, according to Reuters.

The assassination in February sparked a wave of protests in Beirut that helped lead to Syria's announced withdrawal from the country in April.

CNN

[allemand]

1. Annan tried to mediate, but Bolton stopped him

Syria fails to win Annan role in probe

Syria has said it asked UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to help broker a cooperation agreement between Damascus and an inquiry into the killing of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq al-Hariri, but he refused. (...)

But chief UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the secretary-general would not be getting involved and that it was up to Mehlis how he conducted the interviews.

The Security Council would also not intervene, US Ambassador John Bolton said when asked about the Syrian letter.

"We support Mehlis's investigative efforts and we are not going to second-guess his techniques or his tactics," Bolton said. "We are going to say clearly to the Syrians that they need to stop delaying and obstructing Mehlis's work."

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9BF17728-230B-42A2-8747-49613C3AAC2B.htm

However, Al-Hayat reported Friday that Washington had sent a letter to Annan demanding he stop interfering in Mehlis' mission or hindering it, but UN officials denied any knowledge of such a letter.

A U.S. official confirmed that a message had in fact been delivered to Annan urging him to stop mediating in the issue, however, he claimed the request had been verbal.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=20178

[bemildred]

2. It's the old "Pretend we want an agreement when we don't" game. nt