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Britain to Pressure Damascus

U.K. Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, is putting pressure on Syria to answer claims that President Assad threatened Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri before his murder. The claim came from a former Syrian VP living in Paris who spoke out against the regime in Damascus and has since been vilified in his native country.

A U.N. investigation into Hariri`s death in a massive car bomb in Beirut in February 2005 implicates Syria, which denies involvement. Former Syrian Vice-President, Abdul Halim Khaddam, alleges that President Bashar Assad had made threats to Mr Hariri months before his death.

"The pressure on the Syrian regime now is much stronger now than it`s been for decades," says Straw. Earlier this week, U.N. investigators said that they want to interview the Syrian president about the assassination. Hariri was a fierce and vocal critic of the Syrian regime, which was forced by popular protests following Hariri`s killing to end its two decades of domination and occupation of Lebanon.