Syria agrees to let UN question six officials

SYRIA has agreed to allow United Nations investigators to question its officials in Vienna over Rafik Hariri's assassination, ending a deadlock with the UN that had brought mounting pressure on Damascus.

Walid Moallem, Syria's deputy foreign minister, said the breakthrough came after Syria received "guarantees concerning the rights of the individuals" who are to be questioned and reassurances that its sovereignty would be respected.

A UN commission is investigating the death of Mr Hariri, who was Lebanon's prime minister when he was killed with 20 other people in a bombing in Beirut on 14 February. The commission, headed by Detlev Mehlis, a German prosecutor, issued an interim report last month that implicated Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services.

Mr Moallem said: "The [Syrian] leadership has decided to inform Mehlis that it accepts his suggestion, as a compromise, that the venue to listen to the five Syrian officials be the UN headquarters in Vienna."

He added: "We will contact the commission very soon to specify dates and agree on the procedures."

Mr Moallem refused to identify the officials, citing the "secrecy of the investigation". He said they would be accompanied to Vienna only by their lawyers.

Reports have said Mr Mehlis wished to interview six officials, and that the group included the head of Syria's military intelligence, Brigadier General Assef Shawkat, brother-in-law of the president, Bashar Assad.