The team in charge of investigating the assassination of Rafik Al-Hariri takes its questions across the border into Syria, Serene Assir reports Just weeks ago, the UN investigating team headed by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis accused the Syrian regime of hindering the investigation of the assassination of Lebanese former prime minister Rafik Al-Hariri on 14 February. Now, in an apparent policy shift by Damascus, the team head -- accompanied by 24 investigators and interpreters -- has arrived at the Syrian capital, ready to interview government officials in a bid to further the investigation. Officials will be interviewed as witnesses rather than as suspects. It is also reported that Mehlis is due to meet with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, though no date has so far been confirmed. And while the Syrian regime continues to pledge its support for the investigation, it is also warning that the procedures should not become "politicised" in accordance with the interests of the United States, according to Lebanese daily An-Nahar. Mehlis's entry into Syrian territory in order to extend the investigation into the security apparatus of the very state that the Lebanese opposition and much of the international community blamed almost reflexively for the assassination of Al-Hariri may seem to be the most logical step to take following the arrest of four pro-Syrian Lebanese generals two weeks ago. However, given the tough political dynamic that currently exists between the majority anti-Damascus Lebanese regime and Syria, and given the traditionally secretive and tight nature of Al-Assad's regime, the visit comes as quite a surprise, one that reflects the Syrian president's determination to relieve his government of any blame for the assassination. Syria has been under the spotlight since the inauguration of a more openly virulent foreign policy in Washington following the 11 September attacks four years ago this week. The assassination of Al-Hariri did not make things any better for the already vulnerable Damascus regime, with the US pushing for the rapid implementation of UN Resolution 1559, which would effectively end all Lebanese-Syrian ties -- a relationship the Syrian economy, not to say the country's regional strategic policy, depends on. It seems Al-Assad has caught on to rapidly developing events and heeded the UN's demands in a bid to save his own skin, though this may ultimately cost his security apparatus dearly if Mehlis's team finds the Lebanese opposition's suspicions of certain Syrian officials to be accurate. Among the officials who will almost certainly be interviewed as witnesses are President Al-Assad's brother, Maher Al-Assad, and the head of Syria's intelligence apparatus, General Asef Shawkat -- who is the president's brother-in-law. In addition, the all too familiar General Rostom Ghazaleh, who previously headed Syria's security apparatus in Beirut, Interior Minister Ghazi Kenaan, and former Beirut security heads Mohamed Khallouf and Jameh Jameh will be questioned. The list of interviewees comprises at least 20 more officials' names, the majority of whom the Lebanese opposition singled out as soon as the assassination had taken place as likely accomplices or direct participants in the plot that killed Al-Hariri. Meanwhile, as the pressure on Damascus rose dramatically this week, the heat on pro-Syrian elements in Beirut almost reached boiling point. Lebanese President Emile Lahoud has come under increased pressure to resign and yet has refused to do so unless, he says, he deems it fit if placed under the spotlight by Mehlis's team. The Lebanese opposition, on the other hand, continued to express its disbelief this week that he remains in his position as head of state, in particular considering the fact that the UN team is now openly investigating Syrian elements operating in Lebanon during the time leading up to the assassination of the former premier. They see no reason why, at this stage -- following the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanese territory earlier this summer and the creation of a far more Beirut-centred parliament following elections in May -- Lahoud should remain in power while the only reason why his term was extended beyond its limit was the direct intervention of Damascus in December 2004. In addition, many opposition elements find Lahoud's continued hold on power an embarrassment to Lebanese democracy; a vestige of an order that they are seeking to entirely uproot. Lahoud, on the other hand, feels his presidency continues to be justified and completely legitimate, despite the fact that even Hizbullah -- which constitutes the largest pro-Syrian section of Lebanese political society -- has begun to pare back in its support for him. It was, after all, As-Safir 's Editor-in-Chief Talal Suleiman wrote last week, the very contention over the legitimacy of the extension of Lahoud's term that caused Al-Hariri to resign from the government in the first place, creating the suspected rift between him and the Damascus regime. It was this event, the Lebanese opposition says, that ultimately led to the former premier's death: hence the view that Lahoud's continued role as president is an affront. Considering Lebanon's historical propensity for splitting itself down the middle, this controversy is not likely to fizzle out quietly. And the way things are going, it seems clear who will end up giving way, given that the political puzzle is slowly but surely being aligned very much to Damascus's disadvantage.
