"which provoked disturbance in the government and was considered as an offense to Syria's sovereignty," according to Kuwait's As-Siyassah Sunday newspaper.

The paper said "Mehlis has informed the government of his intention to interrogate eight top Syrian officials, including Maher Assad," the head of the Syrian Republican Guard and intelligence.

It added that in a bid to gain France's support, Syrian President Bashar Assad sent military intelligence chief Assef Shawkat( Assad's brother - in Law) to Paris "to offer the French officials an interesting deal," which he believed would discharge Syria from its suspected involvement into Hariri's death.

The paper said Shawkat met with his French counterpart and an official from the bureau of French President Jacques Chirac.

According to the newspaper, the deal included:

1- A Syrian pledge to deploy 50,000 along the Syrian-Iraqi borders to help maintain security.
2- To withdraw the remaining secret intelligence officials from Lebanon.
3- To hold diplomatic relations with Israel, recognize it as a state and renounce its calls for regaining the Golan Heights.
4- The pledge also included "extradition of terrorists detained in the Syrian prisons

Of course the above deal will be of more interest to Bush, since it involves Iraq and Israel. But relationship between Syria and US are at their lowest point. Chirac's role will therefore be the Middleman.

In return, Assad would be discharged from his suspected involvement in Hariri's killing. The Syrian president has been accused by opposition politicians of being behind Hariri's murder. These views were compounded after the Paris-based Intelligence Online specialized newsletter disclosed that Hariri managed to record the elimination threat made by Assad at their last face-to-face meeting in the Syrian capital on a spy pen provided by a Western secret service.

As Ya Libnan reported earlier Hariri had provided copies of the threat to U.S. President Bush, French President Jacques Chirac and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf shortly before he was assassinated in Beirut on Feb. 14, said the newsletter that specializes in intelligence affairs.

The Assad-Hariri meeting was held in Damascus a week before Syria forced the Lebanese parliament virtually at gunpoint to extend President Lahoud's term in office for 3 additional years on Sept. 3. Hariri was against the extension, but was forced to vote for it.

"It is useful for you to know that Lahoud's term will be extended no matter what ... I shall not allow you to replace him with anyone else," the recording pen quoted Assad as telling Hariri. "You have to bear in mind that I am capable of destroying Lebanon, you included."

"If I am forced to leave Lebanon, I will leave it a pile of rubble. Your ally Walid Jumblatt must realize the fate awaiting him. The death of his father is the best lesson for him," Assad was reportedly recorded as telling Hariri.

Intelligence Online said the pen-recorder was probably made available to Hariri by the French foreign security service DGSE, when he told Chirac that he feels threatened.

As-Siyassah's report comes as a Syrian newspaper has accused the head of the Progressive Socialist Party, Chouf MP Walid Jumblatt of benefiting from Hariri's murder.

The newspaper claimed that Jumblatt was responsible for a backlash against Syrians in Lebanon that followed Hariri's killing, which Syrian officials say killed 37 workers and wounded 280 people.

"Walid Jumblatt has a problem with the Syrian people, who will never forgive those who incite and encourage the killing of Syrian citizens," it said.

Ya Libnan was not able to confirm Kuwait's As-Siyassah report, but this paper must have a reliable deep throat, since they have been correct on several previous occasions. They were the first to disclose Jamil El Sayyed's involvement in Hariri's murder. Sayyed, the former head of the most powerful pro-Syrian security organization in Lebanon is now in Jail.

Again, this development could put tremendous political pressure on Mr. Mehlis and Lebanon, since the truth must come out in the end but such deals corrupt the truth.

Sources: Ya Libnan, Naharnet, Daily Star, As-Siyassah