U.S. to Deal `Seriously' With Any Syrian Link to Hariri Killing

Bloomberg
Oct. 14, 2005

Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. will deal ``seriously'' with Syria if a United Nations investigation finds the country had a role in the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, said John Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the UN.

A UN team headed by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis is due to report its findings within two weeks. Hariri, a five-time prime minister of Lebanon, was killed by a bomb in February. The U.S. has blamed Syria and its allies in Lebanon for having a role in the Hariri assassination. Syria, which ended a 29-year military presence in Lebanon in April, has denied involvement.

``If, as many people believe, the report implicates people in the assassination, people outside Lebanon, then it should be dealt with very seriously,'' Bolton said in London today. ``If in the end, it takes us into Syria, the Mehlis investigation, we're prepared to back him up.''

The comments of Bolton, appointed by President George W. Bush in August, came in a speech at Chatham House, an organization that advises European governments on foreign affairs. He said the U.S. is pushing for UN reforms to make it a more ``agile, accountable and effective.''

The UN, which turned 60 this year, is restructuring after a report found lapses and corruption in an Iraqi oil-for-food program. Last month, 150 world leaders agreed to a plan to improve management and oversight of the world body.

Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, appointed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to lead an inquiry, concluded that the UN has been weakened by ``unethical and corrupt behavior'' in the $70 billion oil-for-food program.

Improvements in UN management and oversight were needed ``urgently,'' according to the Volcker report.

That behavior ``rose out of a culture that exists at the UN, I'm sorry to say,'' said Bolton. ``With such an enormous program, why wasn't more attention paid to it at the top?''