By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer BEIRUT, Lebanon – Lebanon said Friday that it will cooperate with a United Nations probe into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, but Lebanese authorities want it finished as soon as possible. A U.N. Security Council resolution, co-sponsored by the United States, France and Britain, authorized an international investigation into the assassination on Feb. 14. Thursday’s 15-0 vote came two weeks after a U.N. fact-finding team issued a report saying a Lebanese investigation was flawed and didn’t meet international standards. “It is in Lebanon’s interest that the international investigation team into the terrorist crime of the assassination of Rafik Hariri, called for by the Security Council, be completed as soon as possible in order to know the truth,” said Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud.
The assassination of Hariri has thrown the country into its worst political crisis since the end of the 1975-90 civil war. Fear has gripped the country following a spate of bombings, which have been placed under or near cars.
“Without (uncovering) the truth of who assassinated prime minister Hariri we cannot dream of stability, freedom and sovereignty in Lebanon,” said Bahiya Hariri, the former premier’s sister who is also a lawmaker.
On Friday a hand grenade was lobbed at a bank in a Christian town northeast of Beirut, police said. No casualties were reported.
The explosion in Dhour Shweir, about 12 miles northeast of Beirut, was the fifth in Christian areas of Lebanon since March 19. Four previous explosions killed three people and wounded 24 and caused severe damage to the shopping, residential and industrial areas they targeted.
Security forces have been taking precautionary measures, conducting night patrols and deploying fire engines on major highways in case of a possible attack.
Lebanon’s anti-Syrian opposition has blamed government security agencies and their Syrian backers for the bombings, while the pro-Syrian camp blames saboteurs bent on destabilizing the country in order to invite international intervention.
The explosions come as Syria withdraws its army from Lebanon under U.N. and U.S. pressure that escalated following the death of Hariri, who was killed in a massive bombing on a Beirut street that destroyed his motorcade, killing him and 19 others.
On Friday some 70 Syrian tanks and other trucks loaded with ammunition, equipment and soldiers, including some towing 10 howitzer guns, crossed into Syria in eastern Lebanon, according to witnesses in the area. Syria said the withdrawal of its army — once numbering 40,000 but which has dropped in recent days to about 8,000 — would be completed by April 30.
