...Meeting a day after the assassination, the Security Council dispatched the fact-finding mission to "report urgently on the circumstances, causes and consequences of the assassination."

While it said it could not assign direct blame for the killing, the mission's 19-page report said the government of Syria "bears primary responsibility for the political tension that preceded the assassination." It said Syria's interference in Lebanon was "heavy-handed and inflexible" which, combined with inept Lebanese security, was responsible for "political polarization" that "provided the backdrop" for the assassination.

The mission said it had been told by a number of people close to Mr. Hariri that he had reported that in his last meeting with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, the Syrian leader had threatened him with physical harm if he continued his campaign to assert Lebanese independence from Syria. The report said the Syrians had refused to discuss the meeting with the mission's investigators...