NEW YORK, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- A United Nations report released Thursday says Syrian and Lebanese agents planned the killing of Rafik Hariri, former prime minister of Lebanon.
"The assassination of 14 February 2005 was carried out by a group with an extensive organization and considerable resources and capabilities," the report said.
Hariri was killed when his car was bombed on a Beirut street.
The investigation was headed by Detlev Mehlis, a German prosecutor. He and a team of investigators questioned Syrian intelligence agents in September for several days.
The New York Times said the report puts more pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The United States has been working to isolate him, forcing him to drop aid to Muslim militias and Iraqi insurgents.
In the report, Mehlis said the intelligence services of Lebanon and Syria, working together, have penetrated Lebanon so deeply that an organized assassination could not be carried out without their knowledge.
