UN Hariri panel questions Assad

Syria is living through a period of uncertainty over the UN probe

The head of the UN team investigating the assassination of ex-Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri has held talks with President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

It is the first time Serge Brammertz has met the Syrian leader; there are no details of what was discussed.

The meeting followed allegations by Mr Assad's former deputy that the president was involved in the murder. Damascus strongly denies involvement.

An earlier UN report accused Syria of not co-operating with the inquiry.

Those claims were made by the previous UN investigator Detlev Mehlis, who was replaced by Mr Brammertz in January.

The Belgian prosecutor crossed the Lebanese-Syrian border at about 0900 (0600 GMT) in a convoy of 10 vehicles, according to Lebanese officials. He left Syria about six hours later.

Officials said a separate meeting was held with Vice President Faruq Sharaa, who was foreign minister at the time of the Hariri killing.

He was accused last year by the investigators of giving them false information in a letter to them.

Improved co-operation

The UN team formally made a request to see Mr Assad in January after the defection of Syria's former vice-president, Abdel Halim Khaddam.

Mr Brammertz took over the UN's Hariri file in January

Mr Khaddam gave a series of interviews denouncing the Syrian regime and accusing it of involvement in the killing of Rafik Hariri in February 2005.

Mr Assad had declined two previous requests for interviews, but apparently changed his position in March.

Mr Mehlis' report last year concluded that the murder of Lebanon's former prime minister could not have taken place without the knowledge and help of top Syrian intelligence officials.

But the latest progress report by the UN team issued in mid-March said Syrian co-operation had improved. A few days later President Assad announced he would meet UN commission envoys.

President Assad has said that any Syrian official found to have been involved in the murder would be punished by Damascus for treason.

Mr Hariri's assassination sparked massive anti-Syrian protests in Beirut and intensified international pressure on Damascus that eventually forced it to pull its troops and intelligence agents out of Lebanon after 29 years.