DAMASCUS, Dec. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Syria on Tuesday rejected the United Nations chief investigator's charge that Damascus' cooperation with the probe into the killing of Lebanese ex-premier Rafik Hariri was slow-paced.

    "We think that remarks in the UN report that said Syria was slow-paced in fully cooperating with the probe of the international investigation committee are inaccurate," said a statement by the Syrian Foreign Ministry to the UN Security Council, a copy of which was obtained by Xinhua in Damascus.

    The reject was forcefully voiced by Syrian UN ambassador Fayssal Mekdad at a meeting of the UN Security Council designated to examining the new investigation report.

    German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, who heads the UN investigation commission on the probe into Hariri's killing, submitted his second report to the Security Council on Monday which found "new evidence" that further implicated Syria in Hariri's death.

    The report also charged Syria of hampering the investigation with "reluctance and delay."

    In addition, the statement re-asserted that Syria is willing to cooperate with the UN investigation team in the future probe and that Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara was ready to meet Mehlis in the Syrian capital Damascus or during one of his visits to Europe.

    But the statement did not reveal the aim or the content of Shara's possible meeting with the top investigator.

    The statement also complained that UN investigators failed to keep their guarantee promises made to Damascus on questioning five Syrian officials in Vienna.

    The British lawyers for the five officials had also complained to the UN investigation team that the testimonies that their clients had to sign after being questioned were written in a language they did not know, according to the statement.

    An interim report submitted to the UN Security Council in October by Mehlis implicated Syrian and Lebanese security officials in Hariri's assassination and criticized Syria for limited cooperation with the probe.

    Damascus dismissed the charges as far from truth.

    The UN Security Council on Oct. 31 unanimously adopted Resolution 1636, demanding full Syrian cooperation with the UN probe or face unspecified "further action," which could lead to economic sanction.

    The UN investigators questioned five Syrian officials at the UN offices in Vienna last week after weeks of impasse with Damascus over the venue.

    Lebanon has asked for a six-month extension to the probe's mandate which expires on Dec. 15. But Mehlis said he would leave his post this month. Enditem