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10/21/2005:

"Rogue Syrians must be held to account, says US"

George Bush called last night for the UN security council to take up urgently the question of Syrian involvement in the assassination of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, saying the international community had to hold Damascus accountable.
Mr Bush asked Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, to call the meeting of council foreign ministers, after a UN report implicated senior Syrian officials in the February 14 murder in Beirut. "There must be some way to assure accountability," said Ms Rice, adding that the international community would have "no real credibility" if it failed to take punitive action.

Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, travelling with Ms Rice in Alabama said the meeting "should take place as soon as possible".

"You cannot leave a report like this ... on the table," he said. "Otherwise the international community whole influence and effectiveness is in question. If we act swiftly, we act resolutely, we act together, we can show that the international community is standing up for justice."

Syria responded angrily to the report, which concluded that the bomb that killed Hariri "could not have been taken without the approval of top-ranked Syrian security official(s)".

"I think the report is far from professional and will not lead us to the truth," Syria's information minister, Mehdi Dakhlallah, told al-Jazeera television. Syria's ambassador to the US, Imad Moustapha, said the accusations "will only help fuel anti-American sentiment around the world".
guardian.co.uk