THE UN last night accused Syria of involvement in the assassination of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister, setting the stage for a showdown with Damascus.

The unprecedented inquiry, led by the German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, implicated General Assef Shawkat, the brother-in-law of President al-Assad of Syria and his military intelligence chief in the plot to murder Mr Hariri.

One witness told the inquiry that two weeks before the assassination General Shawkat forced a scapegoat, who was later killed, to record a videotape claiming responsibility for the suicide bombing.

The report also identified Ahmad Abdel-Al, a prominent figure in a pro-Syrian Lebanese charity as a key player in the plot.

It said that Mr Abdel-Al had been in contact with Syrian intelligence officers on the day of the blast, as well as with Brigadier-General Faysal Rasheed, chief of Lebanese state security.

Minutes before the bomb blast on February 14, Mr Abdel-Al’s brother also made a call to the mobile phone of President Lahoud of Lebanon.

“There is converging evidence pointing at both Lebanese and Syrian involvement in this terrorist act,” the report concluded.

“Given the infiltration of Lebanese institutions and society by the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence working in tandem, it would be difficult to envisage a scenario whereby such a complex assassination plot could have been carried out without their knowledge.

“There is probable cause to believe that the decision to assassinate former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri could not have been taken without the approval of top-ranked Syrian security official [sic] and could not have been further organised without the collusion of their counterparts in the Lebanese security services.”

Herr Mehlis complained, however, that several Syrians interviewed by the investigators had provided “false or inaccurate statements”.

Mr Hariri’s killing along with 22 others in a massive truck bombing outside Beirut’s St George Hotel precipitated mass demonstrations and the withdrawal of thousands of Syrian troops from Lebanon.

The UN report describes growing tension between Mr Hariri and the Syrian President al-Assad over Syria’s decision to extend the term of President Lahoud.

Mr Hariri told one contact, Jubran Tueni, that Mr al-Assad threatened to “blow him up” if he opposed the extension of President Lahoud’s term.

An unidentified witness, who claims to have been a former Syrian intelligence officer in Lebanon, said that Syrian and Lebanese officials decided to assassinate Mr Hariri about two weeks after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution calling for the withdrawal of Syrian troops.

He claimed that a senior Lebanese security official visited Syria several times to plan the assassination, meeting once at the Meridian Hotel in Damascus and at the presidential palace and the office of a senior Syrian security official.

The last meeting was held in the house of the same senior Syrian security official approximately seven to ten days before the assassination and included another senior Lebanese security official.

The report will have profound ramifications for the region. It leaves President al-Assad isolated and might force his Lebanese ally President Lahoud out of office.

Britain, America and France are already preparing follow-up action, to be debated in the UN Security Council next week, that will demand those responsible be placed in custody to stand trial.

In Lebanon, there were fears last night that blaming Syria could unleash a new round of violence.

About 10,000 Lebanese soldiers and police were deployed around Beirut. Soldiers deployed along main roads and at key intersections. The UN headquarters in Beirut was ringed with troops and a towering wall of sandbags erected to guard against car bombs was reinforced with concrete.

THIRTY YEARS OF CONFLICT

April 1975 Fighting erupts after Christian gunmen ambush a bus of Muslims and Palestinians in Beirut

March 1978 Israel occupies south Lebanon

June 1982 Israel invades rest of Lebanon. Syrian Army ousted from Beirut and Palestinian guerrillas leave by sea after ten-week siege

May 1983 Israel and Lebanon sign peace treaty. Syria opposes it

February 1984 Muslim fighters seize West Beirut

March 1984 Peace agreement with Israel is cancelled. Hezbollah makes first public appearances

August 1990 Parliament enacts Taif Accord, later Lebanon’s new constitution. Militias agree to leave Beirut

October 1992 Rafik Hariri elected Prime Minister

1996 Mr Hariri re-elected

1998 Emile Lahoud becomes President and Mr Hariri resigns

May 2000 Israel ends occupation

October 2000 Mr Hariri chosen as Prime Minister

June 2001 Syria completes surprise pullout of its troops from Beirut

Feb 14, 2005 Mr Hariri assassinated

March 7 Syrian troops start withdrawing

April 26 Withdrawal completed

October 12 General Ghazi Kanaan, the former head of Syrian military intelligence in Lebanon, “commits suicide”

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