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

    An informed source told Xinhua that the two leaders focused their talks on the new round of mounting international pressure on Damascus following the release of a UN report on former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's death.

    The report, by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, found "converging evidence" of both Syrian and Lebanese involvement in the assassination.

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

    A Syrian political source, who asked not to be named, confirmed to the press that Assad briefed Mubarak on the Syrian position to the Mehlis report and a draft UN resolution.

    The resolution, circulated by the United States and France in the UN Security Council on Tuesday, threatens economic sanctions against Damascus if it fails to fully cooperate with the probe.

    The Syrian government believed that Mubarak could understand Syria's position and convey it to the international community, the source said.

    Mubarak's visit was significant as it showed that the notion of Syria being isolated by the international community was not accurate, the source added.

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

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

    Hariri, architect of Lebanon's post-war revival, was killed in a huge 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 and international outcry. Enditem