The UN team investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has begun work at the site of the bomb attack which killed him and 16 others. (Photo: Xinhua/AFP)

    BEIJING, Feb. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- The UN team investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has begun work at the site of the bomb attack which killed him and 16 others.

    The team headed to the site on the seafront street where the powerful bomb blew up Hariri's motorcade.

    Head of the UN inquiry team, Peter Fitzgerald, visited Hariri's home and offered his condolences to the family.

    "My purpose for being here is to express my sincere condolences to the family and to pay my respects, and to inform them the purpose of my visit which is representing the Secretary General of the UN in order to provide him with the information that he requires to report to the Security Council."

    Hariri's death on February 14 sparked huge anti-government and anti-Syria demonstrations and international uproar.

    The Lebanese and Syrian governments have so far given no timeframe for a redeployment of Syrian troops.

    Syria has said its soldiers are to leave the western areas of Lebanon and reposition themselves in the Bekaa Valley, closer to the Lebanese-Syrian border.

    (Source: CRIENGLISH.com)