DAMASCUS, Oct. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara left on Sunday for New York to attend a ministerial session of the United Nations Security Council due on Monday over the killing of Lebanese ex-premier Rafik Hariri.

    According to a Foreign Ministry statement, Shara will hold meetings with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and some foreign ministers of the Security Council members during his stay in the UN headquarters in efforts to further explain Syria's stance on the UN probe into Hariri's killing.

    Legal advisor at the ministry Riad al-Daoudi is accompanying Shara to take part in the meeting, which would vote on a draftre solution threatening sanctions against Syria if it fails to fully cooperate with the probe into the murder of Hariri in a massive car bomb blast in Beirut on Feb. 14.

    Daoudi had led the Syrian side in talks with chief UN investigator Detlev Mehlis and attended the questioning of several Syrian officials by the team last month.

    Shara postponed his visit to the UN headquarters on Tuesday. The Foreign Ministry explained that the Security Council meeting held on that day was limited to permanent representatives.

    On Tuesday, Mehlis briefed the Security Council on the investigation into Hariri's death and urged for Syrian full cooperation.

    The United States, France and Britain immediately circulated a draft resolution later on Tuesday in the Security Council, which threatens sanctions against Syria.

    The Syrian government has vehemently denied any involvement in the killing and dismissed the findings as politically motivated and far from truth.

    Hariri's death led to renewed calls for withdrawal of all Syrian troops and intelligence agents that had been in Lebanon since the early stages of that country's 1975-1990 civil war.

    Syria withdrew troops from neighboring Lebanon in April amid growing international pressure. Enditem