Office
of the Press Secretary
October 24, 2005
Press Briefing by Scott McClellan
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
* * *
Q
And then on the Mehlis Report -- the Mehlis Report
found that the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime
Minister was ordered, plotted and carried out with the
assistance of the highest levels of the Syrian government.
What does the President believe is the appropriate response
to that? Sanctions? Tribunal --
MR.
McCLELLAN: Well, it is a criminal investigation
that continues. It is deeply disturbing what Mehlis outlined
in that report. The President is of the belief that the
Security Council needs to take this matter up at the soonest
possible date and discuss how we move forward. There needs
to be accountability. This report did strongly suggest
that the assassination of a former Prime Minister, Prime
Minister Hariri, could not have taken place without Syrian
involvement. That is a very troubling report. And the
Security Council needs to take it up at a high level.
And that's why the President directed Secretary Rice to
move forward on getting the Security Council to hold a
meeting at the earliest possible date to discuss how to
proceed.
Q
Are you looking for sanctions?
MR.
McCLELLAN: I don't want to speculate about it.
We'll talk with the international community through the
Security Council about how to proceed.
*
* *
Q
If Syrian leaders are bold enough to kill the top Lebanese
official and support the insurgency in Iraq, how far is
the U.S. from engaging in further military activities
against the Syrians along the border and possibly even
deeper into Syria?
MR.
McCLELLAN: Well, we've talked about this before.
What we want to see is behavioral change from the regime
in Syria. It is a regime that is out of step with the
region. And we are now talking with the international
community about how to proceed to address the report that
the U.N. investigator, Mehlis, issued last week. There
is a criminal investigation that continues, and we will
discuss with the international community about how to
proceed to ensure that there is accountability.
Go ahead.
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