MOSCOW, Oct. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Russia opposes politicizing the investigation of the murder of Lebanon's former prime minister Rafik Hariri, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday.

    "Moscow is against politicizing the investigation of the murder," Lavrov said before leaving for New York to attend a session of the UN Security Council devoted to the Mehlis commission's report on the results of the probe into Hariri's death.

    Lavrov said that "Russia proceeds from the understanding that those who engineered and performed the assassination must be caught and brought to justice. It would be very wrong to politicize this issue and to make decisions that may bring about excessive demands."

    In his opinion, proposals for imposing sanctions on Syria were blown out of proportion and any draft of a UN Security Council resolution was a subject matter of negotiations.

    "Russia is firmly against groundless allegations," Lavrov said.

    "Sanctions on trips by certain persons and freezes on their bank accounts without mentioning their names go to far. As a matter of fact, this would be tantamount to sanctions on suspects before trial. If some concrete facts are named, Russia will be prepared to examine them, but it will not support carte blanche. We believe this would be groundless," he emphasized.

    Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mikhail Kamynin pointed out that the UN Security Council's resolution must be fairand confirm the impartiality of the investigation conducted.

    "Russia will do everything necessary to ensure there be no attempts to impose sanctions on Syria," he said.

    He also noted that no hasty conclusions should be drawn from aninterim report by a UN commission probing the murder and that any hasty conclusions could spark further tensions in the region.

    The investigation will be continued and the final conclusions will be made by the Lebanese law enforcement agencies, Kamynin stressed.

    "All the parties, including Syria, must provide maximum assistance to the commission and cooperate honestly with it," said Kamynin.

    The UN Security Council is expected to hold a session of foreign ministers on the murder of Hariri next Monday at the request of the United States. Enditem