Syria fails to win Annan role in probe
Syria has said it asked UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to help broker a cooperation agreement between Damascus and an inquiry into the killing of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq al-Hariri, but he refused. (...)
But chief UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the secretary-general would not be getting involved and that it was up to Mehlis how he conducted the interviews.
The Security Council would also not intervene, US Ambassador John Bolton said when asked about the Syrian letter.
"We support Mehlis's investigative efforts and we are not going to second-guess his techniques or his tactics," Bolton said. "We are going to say clearly to the Syrians that they need to stop delaying and obstructing Mehlis's work."
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9BF17728-230B-42A2-8747-49613C3AAC2B.htmHowever, Al-Hayat reported Friday that Washington had sent a letter to Annan demanding he stop interfering in Mehlis' mission or hindering it, but UN officials denied any knowledge of such a letter.
A U.S. official confirmed that a message had in fact been delivered to Annan urging him to stop mediating in the issue, however, he claimed the request had been verbal.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=20178