Syria considering UN request to interview officials in Hariri assassination probe News
Syria considering UN request to interview officials in Hariri assassination probe

[JURIST] A Syrian official said Monday that the country has received a UN request to interview six officials in connection with the UN investigation [UN materials] into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive], and is considering whether to comply. While Syrian officials declined to release the identity of the six officials, the al-Hayat newspaper reported Sunday that one was Assef Shawkat, the head of military intelligence and the brother in-law of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad [BBC profile]. Shawkat was implicated [JURIST report] in the interim report [text] issued last month by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, who is heading the UN investigation. The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution criticizing Syria's failure to cooperate [JURIST report] with the investigation, though Syria has since opened its own investigation [JURIST report] into the Hariri murder. Reuters has more.