[JURIST] Serge Brammertz [official profile, JURIST news archive], deputy prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and head of the UN International Independent Investigation Commission [UN materials] probing the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive], delivered the panel's latest report to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan [official profile, JURIST news archive] on Saturday and noted that Syria's cooperation with the probe has been "generally satisfactory." Brammertz's report indicates that the UNIIIC has made "considerable progress" but also supports extending the commission's mandate for another year to allow for "the strengthening or exclusion of some of the existing case hypotheses." The UN Security Council [official website] is scheduled to take up the report on June 14.

Syria's cooperation has been an issue in the commission's investigation and the Security Council passed a resolution [text] last October demanding Syria's cooperation with the Hariri probe [JURIST report]. After initially refusing to meet with investigators, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad [BBC profile] and other top Syrian officials met with Brammertz [JURIST report] in April. Prior commission reports have implicated Syrian officials in the assassination [JURIST report]. Detlev Mehlis, the German prosecutor who headed the probe until resigning at the end of 2005, has also said that he is "convinced" that Syrian authorities are responsible for Hariri's death [JURIST report]. Aljazeera has more.

6/14/06 11:51 AM ET – The Fourth report of the International Independent Investigation Commission [PDF] is now available.