UNITED NATIONS - The inquiry into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri is turning up "significant links" between Hariri's death and 14 other later attacks in Lebanon, the chief investigator said on Tuesday.

Serge Brammertz, who leads the UN investigation into the February 2005 assassination, also said his probe continued to make numerous demands for interviews and evidence on Syria.

Investigators conducted six interviews and held five meetings with relevant Syrian officials in recent months, he said in his latest progress report to the Security Council.

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They also sought from Damascus "information, artifacts, electronic media and documentation about certain individuals and groups," he said.

"The level of assistance provided by Syria during the reporting period remains generally satisfactory. The commission will continue to request Syria's full cooperation, which remains crucial to the swift and successful completion of its work," he said.

Hariri, who became a critic of Syria's decades-long domination of Lebanon shortly before his death, was killed along with 22 others by a huge bomb in broad daylight on February 14, 2005, as his motorcade traveled along a Beirut street.

The attack took place after he accused Syria of meddling in Lebanese politics. Mass street protests followed and Lebanese opposition politicians blamed Damascus for his death, although Syria has repeatedly denied any involvement in the killing.

The Security Council, which created the UN commission to
investigate Hariri's death, later asked it to look into 14 other apparently politically-motivated attacks that followed.

Most recently, it added to the team's workload the November 21 slaying of anti-Syrian Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.

"The commission's work on the 14 cases continues to elicit significant links between each case and to indicate links to the Rafik Hariri case," Brammertz said.

The findings suggest a wave of attacks targeting individuals with known and shared political leanings and aiming to "spread fear among the population" and "destabilize the security situation," he said.