UN Hariri probe reports progress, needs more time

A UN team has made major progress in its inquiry into the killing of a former Lebanese prime minister, but will need an extension of its three-month mandate, its chief said on Thursday. Chief United Nations investigator Detlev Mehlis said he had recommended to the Lebanese authorities that they issue arrest warrants for four pro-Syrian generals already in detention as suspects in the February assassination of Rafik al-Hariri.
Although in custody, the generals are not formally under arrest. Arresting the four security chiefs would be the first step towards bringing charges against them.
"I think we have advanced quite a bit. We have made progress. We are not recommending people to be arrested on rumour" Mehlis told a news conference in a mountain village.
His team has questioned over 250 people in connection with the case, including at least five suspects - the four generals and a former lawmaker close to Damascus who was later freed.
"We suggested to the general prosecutor the permanent arrest of four out of five suspects," Mehlis said.
"These five suspects we have arrested are in our assessment only part of the picture ... We think more people are involved," he said, adding there were no Syrians among them so far.
Many Lebanese blame Syria, which had controlled Lebanon since the 1975-1990 civil war, for the killing that plunged the country into months of turmoil.
Damascus ended its 29-year military presence in Lebanon in April amid world pressure and Lebanese street protests after the killing of Hariri and 20 others by a huge bomb in Beirut.
Mehlis said he was confident Syria, which the United Nations has criticised for not co-operating fully with the probe, would eventually let him interview Syrian security officials.
Despite the progress, Mehlis predicted he would not be able to conclude the investigation and report his findings to the UN Security Council by the mid-September deadline.
The UN team has handed over the four generals to the Lebanese authorities, who are keeping them under heavy guard at a police headquarters.