Syria denies plotting assassination of anti-Syrian Lebanese politician

Syria on Wednesday demanded that the leader of Lebanon's U.S.-backed coalition should produce evidence of a Syrian plot to kill him, saying the allegation was a fabrication.

Saad al-Hariri said in Cairo on Tuesday that he had information about an alleged plan by Assef Shawkat, brother-in-law of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, to kill him along with Hariri's ally, Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.

"In response to Saad al-Hariri's fabricated accusations... if he has proof why doesn't he put it in front of Arab and international public opinion," the official news agency quoted a Syrian official as saying.

Meanwhile, Siniora on Wednesday backed Hariri and said the Lebanese government will take precautions against assassination attempts but did not directly blame Syria.

"We have received reliable information that preparations are under way (to carry out) assassination attacks, Siniora told reporters in Beirut. We condemn these attacks and those who think of committing them.

Lebanon's anti-Syrian groups that dominate the government and parliament content Damascus is behind a two-year killing spree that has claimed the lives of Rafik Hariri and several anti-Syrian politicians and public figures. The latest was the Sept. 19 slaying of lawmaker Antoine Ghanem in a Beirut car bombing, a week before Parliament was to meet to start electing a new president.

Hariri, a billionaire politician and son of late premier Rafik al-Hariri, is one of Lebanon's leading anti-Syrian political figures. He said Lebanese security agencies were investigating the alleged plot.

Shawkat, head of Syria's military intelligence, is among several Syrian and Lebanese security officials implicated by a U.N. investigation in the 2005 assassination of Rafik al-Hariri in Beirut. Syria has denied involvement in the killing.

Washington has named the powerful general among 10 Syrian officials and Lebanese politicians it accuses of undermining the Beirut government. The coalition says Damascus is behind a series of political killings in Lebanon, which began with the Feb. 14, 2005, assassination of Hariri.

Syria denies the allegations and says achieving stability in Lebanon is in its national interest.

The Hariri assassination led to the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon after a 29-year presence. Ties between the two countries have plummeted since.

A businessman with international connections, the late Hariri led multi-billion dollar projects to rebuild Lebanon after the 1975-1990 civil war and sought to maintain a balance between his ties with the United States and Syria.