DAMASCUS, Oct. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak paid a surprise visit to Syria on Friday and held a closed-door meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the official SANA news agency reported.

   Mubarak's visit came three days after the United States and France introduced a draft resolution in the UN Security Council seeking economic sanctions against Damascus if it fails to fully cooperate with a probe into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

   International pressure on Damascus mounted following the release of a UN report by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis on the assassination of Hariri which found "converging evidence" of both Syrian and Lebanese involvement in the assassination.

   Syria has denied any involvement and dismissed the report as politically motivated.

   Egypt, a key US ally in the region, has shown its willingness to defuse tension between Damascus and Washington and opposes any attempt to isolate Damascus.

   The Cairo-based Arab League on Wednesday jointed veto-wielding member of the Security Council Russia in opposing any international sanction against Syria over Hariri's killing.

   Hariri, architect of Lebanon's post-war revival, was killed in a massive car bombing in central Beirut on Feb. 14.

   Syria withdrew its troops and intelligence agents from Lebanon in late April under growing international pressure after Hariri's death sparked widespread anti-Syrian protests in Lebanon. Enditem