Syria says new UN report on Hariri probe objective and professional

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DAMASCUS, March 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faiser Mekdad said that a new UN report on the probe into Lebanese ex-premier Rafik Hariri is "objective and very professional", the official al-Thawra newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Mekdad told the paper in a telephone interview that Syria carried out cooperation with the UN investigation commission through visits by chief investigator Serge Brammertz to Damascus and Syrian officials to Beirut.

Meanwhile, Mekdad criticized former chief investigator Detlev Mehlis for providing chances for media campaign on pre-judgment before the completion of the investigation.

Brammertz's report did not lead to such circumstances, he said. A UN report released Tuesday said Syria has complied with almost all requests for assistance from the UN commission. "The Syrian government has, in particular in the last three months, formally complied with nearly all of the Commission's previous requests for assistance," said the report.

Xinhua