TV shows Hariri 'murder footage'

The tape apparently captures the deadly blast

An Arabic television station has shown a video of the moments before the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on 14 February.

The al-Arabiya tape shows a lorry believed to have been involved.

The images were captured by the closed circuit television camera of a bank near the site of the massive blast.

A United Nations report has criticised Lebanon's investigation into the incident as flawed and inconclusive and urged an international inquiry.

The Lebanese government said it would co-operate with an international inquiry, but criticised the UN report's findings, saying they were "alien to reality".

Mitsubishi car

The 90-second-long footage broadcast on Sunday night showed a white Mitsubishi pick-up lorry driving slowly past the bank and moving out of the camera's range moments before a burst of light - apparently the explosion. The film also appeared to show a convoy of black cars travelling in the same direction as the lorry, which was said to be driving slower.

To find the truth it would be necessary to entrust the investigation to an international independent commission UN report In pictures: Hariri murder

The station said the tape was used by the UN team that investigated the murder scene.

The UN report did not specify who was behind Hariri's killing but blamed Syria for the political tension that preceded the assassination.

It said the Lebanese inquiry was unsatisfactory.

"The Lebanese investigation process suffers from serious flaws and has neither the capacity nor the commitment to reach a satisfactory and credible conclusion.

"To find the truth it would be necessary to entrust the investigation to an international independent commission."

Rafik Hariri had called for Syria to withdraw from Lebanon

The report added that Lebanon's security services were unlikely to conduct an adequate inquiry under its current leadership.

The UN reports expresses the belief that a Lebanese security official planted "parts of a truck" in the crater after the bombing, creating "serious suspicion about the actual involvement of this truck in the assassination and seriously damaging the credibility of the main line of the investigation".

Lebanese Justice Minister Adnan Addoum has denied the planting of any evidence.

Syria criticised the UN report, saying it contained "too much rhetoric" and was one-sided.

Hariri's murder sparked international condemnation, and massive public protests in Lebanon over Syria's military presence in the country.

Responding to Lebanese and international pressure for Syrian troops to be withdrawn from Lebanon, Damascus has begun pulling out its forces - and some have already left the country.