BRUSSELS, Feb 21 (AFP) - The European Union called Monday for an immediate international probe into the killing last week of Lebanese ex-prime minister Rafiq Hariri.
EU foreign ministers said they wanted an "international investigation to be carried out without delay to shed light on the circumstances and responsibility" of the car bomb that killed Hariri last Monday in Beirut.
Lebanon's government, facing mounting calls to resign over the murder, has vowed to cooperate with UN investigators to find his killers but rejected a full international inquiry.
Internationally, France and the United States, which co-sponsored a UN Security Council resolution last September demanding the withdrawal of foreign troops from Lebanon, have been the most vocal in insisting on a UN inquiry.
Hariri's assassination has exacerbated domestic tensions over Syria's political and military sway in the country and added to international pressure on Damascus to pull its troops out of its smaller neighbour.
The EU ministers said in a statement that the EU would pay close attention to coming legislative elections in Lebanon in order to make sure the vote takes place "without any foreign interference or influence".
02/21/2005 16:39 GMT - AFP