Wed Mar 21, 12:13 PM ET

BEIRUT (AFP) – Belgium’s foreign minister accused Syria on Wednesday of not wanting to help solve Lebanon’s political crisis, by opposing an international court to try suspects in the killing of former premier Rafiq Hariri.

"If you ask me if Syria is disposed to contribute to a solution, frankly my reply is ‘no,’" Karel De Gucht told reporters after talks with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.

"The Syrians must lift their embargo against this court. It is to Syria’s advantage," he said.

Speaking of his recent visit to Damascus, De Gucht commented that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had "said very clearly to me that even if a court were set up, it would never see his nationals before it."

The United Nations had given the green light for an international court to try suspects in the February 2005 killing of Hariri, for which Syria has been widely accused. Damascus vehemently denies involvement.

However, Lebanon’s parliament must give its go-ahead for the tribunal and has been bogged down in political paralysis between the anti-Syrian majority and the pro-Syrian opposition.

In a televised interview in Paris on Tuesday, Assad again ruled out an appearance in the dock of any Syrian.

"Anyone implicated in this affair is considered a traitor under Syrian law. The person will be judged by a Syrian court and sentenced much more severely than by any other tribunal. We will not give up our sovereignty," he said in an interview France 2 television from Damascus.

De Gucht also met with Lebanese parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, a member of the pro-Syrian opposition, and said he was "perplexed by the political impasse in Lebanon", particularly Berri’s refusal to convene the assembly to discuss the crisis.

"I told Mr Berri that the first thing to do is to summon parliament … and I hope that one will have the wisdom to do it," said De Gucht, who also met anti-Syrian parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri, the son of the slain ex-premier, and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt.