BEIRUT - Lebanese President Emile Lahoud pledged full cooperation Saturday with the United Nations in order to bring to justice the assassins of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri.
Lahoud "stressed his commitment to do whatever it takes to reveal the circumstances surrounding the assassination of Rafiq Hariri, in cooperation with the United Nations by whatever method it adopts in order to know the identity of the perpetrators of the crime," a statement said.
The president also called for "the heaviest sanctions to be imposed on those the investigation proves hatched the plot, those who carried it out and those who helped with its execution.
"The measures will affect all those who, according to the results of the inquiry, are proved to have been negligent in their duties or who committed errors that damaged the reputation of Lebanon, its institutions and its security services."
The presidential statement came after the foreign minister, Mahmoud Hamoud, said Lebanon would agree to the creation of an international commission of inquiry if it is called for the UN Security Council.
A hard-hitting UN report issued Thursday determined that Lebanese security services had been grossly negligent in their probe and that an international independent commission would be needed to uncover the truth.
Lebanon's acceptance of an international commission has been demanded by the anti-Syrian opposition, which has blamed Syrian and Lebanese agents over Hariri's February 14 murder despite denials by authorities here and in Damascus.
03/26/2005 14:25 GMT