February 14, 2009 - UNIIIC investigators visit Syria - reports

By Dalila Mahdawi

BEIRUT: A delegation from the UN International Independent Investigation Commission (UNIIIC) probing the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri traveled to Syria on Friday, local news reports said. According to the National News Agency, the delegation entered Syria through the Masnaa border crossing in a four-car convoy early Friday morning. The visit came a day ahead of the fourth anniversary of Hariri's murder, which will be marked in Beirut with a rally. Hariri was assassinated along with 22 others in a massive car bomb in Beirut on 14 February, 2005. Syria has largely been blamed for his killing and a number of political assassinations that followed.

IIIC spokesperson Radia Ashoury told The Daily Star she "would not comment" on the validity of Friday's media reports, but added, "I will just say that this [visit] has to with the operational aspects of our work." Officials from the IIIC, whose mandate finishes at the end of February, have previously met with Syrian officials, including President Bashar Assad, as part of their investigation. Also on Friday, the French Foreign Ministry said it had transferred all documents regarding Hariri's killing to The Hague, where the Tribunal will be held, after a request from IIIC. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Eric Chevalier said France would also donate some 4.5 million euros to the Tribunal over a three-year period. Assuring US commitment to the Special Tribunal on Lebanon, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman told An-Nahar that while the US did not know who was responsible for Hariri's assassination, it would "help the Tribunal through all possible means to uncover and punish the killers." Feltman, who was formerly US ambassador to Lebanon, added that it was "high time to ensure that political assassinations in Lebanon do not go unpunished." US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also issued a statement, saying that the former premier's killing was aimed at silencing Lebanese voices "calling out for independence and sovereignty." The Obama administration was "committed to working together for a peaceful, prosperous and sovereign Lebanon," Clinton said on Thursday, echoing remarks made in a telephone call to Hariri's son Saad earlier that day. Meanwhile, an unidentified UN official told An-Nahar newspaper on Friday that the Lebanese judges appointed to the Special Tribunal would take their oaths after March 1, when the tribunal kicks off administrative work. The names of those judges would not be announced for security reasons, the official said, adding that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was expected to issue a report on the court's work on February 28. Undersecretary General for Legal Affairs and UN Legal Counsel Patricia O'Brien had been scheduled to hold a press conference on Thursday, but canceled the event, saying she did not "anticipate" the report's publication.