ASSAD
BEIRUT (AP):
THE UNITED Nations commission investigating the assassination of a former Lebanese leader notched up the pressure on Syria, announcing yesterday it had asked a second time to question its president after a former top government official made damaging revelations.
The commission's spokeswoman, Nasra Hassan, said the commission will also seek to interview former Syrian Vice-President Abdul-Halim Khaddam. Khaddam is a one-time stalwart of Syria's ruling Baath Party who made damaging revelations in a television interview last week that further deepened suspicions of Syrian involvement in the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Khaddam alleged that Assad had threatened Hariri several months before his February 14 assassination in a truck bombing in Beirut.
"The U.N. commission had already sent a request to interview Syrian President Bashar Assad and Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa, among others," Hassan told The Associated Press.
She refused to say when the request was made and said the commission "is waiting for a response from the Syrians."
Syrian legislator Faysal Kalthoum said Damascus would reject the U.N. committee's request to interview Assad if it violates the dignity of the presidency.
"This request must not contradict the constitutional and legal rules surrounding the dignity of the presidency, the symbol of sovereignty and national dignity," he told AP. "If it does, it will be rejected by all Syrians," he continued.
The announcement further ratchets up the pressure on Syria, particularly after Khaddam's TV interview in which he formally broke with the Syrian regime and lashed out at the Syrian leadership.
The commission asked to interview Assad in July last year but was refused.
Hassan, the spokeswoman, said the commission also would try to interview Khaddam "as soon as possible."
