BEIRUT (AFP) – The top US envoy to the Middle East called for the “complete and immediate” withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon and demanded an investigation into the assassination of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri. “Mr Hariri’s death should give renewed impetus to achieving a free, independent and sovereign Lebanon,” Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns told reporters. “What that means is the immediate and complete implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559, and what that means is the complete and immediate withdrawal by Syria,” he said after talks with Foreign Minister Mahmud Hammud.

Burns was speaking after Hariri, who was killed on Monday in an attack many in Lebanon blame on Syria, was laid to rest at a funeral attended by hundreds of thousands of people.

The United States has recalled its ambassador to Syria over the killing of Hariri, while stopping short of directly blaming Damascus, which pulls the strings in Lebanon’s corridors of power and has 14,000 troops stationed there.

Burns said Washington and the world will monitor closely Lebanon as it prepares to hold parliamentary elections in May.

“The Lebanese people must be allowed to make their own political choices and to conduct elections on their own, free of foreign interference,” he said.

Burns said Hariri had many friends in France and the United States.

“Today Americans join the people of Lebanon in a deep shared sense of rage and anger,” he said.

He also called for a “credible” investigation into the murder of Hariri to bring his killers to justice.

“The US joins with the entire international community in stressing the urgent importance of conducting a serious and credible investigation to bring those responsible for this act of terrorism to justice,” Burns said, adding that Washington was ready to help.

Hammud told him however that Lebanese Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh insisted on Beirut’s opposition to an international probe.

“An international inquiry is unacceptable. Investigators will, if necessary, call upon experts from neutral countries,” Franjieh said on Tuesday.

On Tuesday the UN Security Council asked Secretary General Kofi Annan (news – web sites) for a report into the “circumstances, causes and consequences” of the killing of Hariri, which came just months after it voted for a complete withdrawal of Syrian forces.

In a statement, the 15-nation council called on all parties to fulfil the demands of Resolution 1559, which demanded the troop pull-out and an end to outside intereference in Lebanon’s affairs.

Burns branded Hariri’s murder a “brutal act of terrorism” before heading to the Hariri family home to present condolences on behalf of the US government.