France refuses to extradite Syrian over Hariri murder

A court in Versailles, near Paris, on Friday took the decision because it had not been given guarantees that Zouheir Mohammad Assediq would not be liable to the death penalty if extradited, and freed him, the source added Sunday.

Assediq, who was the object of an international arrest warrant requested by a Lebanese prosecutor, was detained last October in a Paris suburb.

Beirut newspapers have reported that Assediq was questioned last year as a witness by a UN inquiry into Hariri's assassination. He is reported to have admitted he was near the scene of the crime.

International pressure, led by the United States and France, has built on Syria to cooperate with the UN probe since Hariri was killed by a bomb on the Beirut waterfront in February last year.

Hariri's death galvanised Lebanon's anti-Syrian opposition which, with international backing, forced Damascus to withdraw its troops from its small neighbour after an occupation that had lasted nearly three decades.

The opposition and the former leader of the UN inquiry team have charged that Syrian intelligence agents were implicated in Hariri's death, despite denials from Damascus.

The UN team has asked to interview Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Vice President Faruq al-Shara after the former vice president, Abdel Halim Khaddam, now in exile in Paris, charged that agents could not have acted without Assad's approval.

Syria has offered to cooperate with the inquiry but insists this is done in a way that does not undermine the country's sovereignty.

Source

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