US: The United States said last night that it was consulting other UN Security Council members about taking punitive measures against those responsible for the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
Whoever carried out the bombing must be punished, said White House spokesman Scott McClellan, in what is being interpreted as a thinly-disguised warning to Syria. While declining to single out any country or organisation for blame, he said the US "will consult with other governments in the region and on the Security Council today about measures that can be taken to punish those responsible for this terrorist attack".
Washington would also press for the end of the use of violence and intimidation against the Lebanese people "and to restore Lebanon's independence, sovereignty and democracy by freeing it from foreign occupation", he said. Mr McClellan said US President George Bush was shocked and angered by the attack, which killed a prominent Middle East politician with whom he was on friendly terms.