DAMASCUS (AFP) - Syria vowed to cooperate fully with the head of the UN probe into the murder of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri, saying it was in the interests of Damascus to uncover the truth."Detlev Mehlis arrives in Damascus tomorrow... Syria will cooperate with him and extend all possible facilities to the international commission of inquiry," the official SANA news agency said Sunday."It is in the interests of Syria to reach the truth on the crime of Rafiq Hariri's assassination."

 An official daily, Ath-Thawra, said Syria would "cooperate in a serious and responsible manner" with Mehlis, who is visiting Syria as part of his commission's probe which has seen the arrest of four top pro-Syrian Lebanese security officials.Syria and its political allies in Lebanon at the time are accused of having a hand in the February 14 bomb blast on the Beirut seafront that killed Hariri and another 20 people.

Lebanon's Maronite bishops have called for the cloud of suspicion over President Emile Lahoud's head to be lifted. Lahoud, who is a Maronite, has faced increasing pressure to resign over the 14 February assassination, particularly since the arrests in the course of a UN investigation into the crime.

"The information which has come to the UN investigation and which has cast suspicion on certain suspects, including those who were in charge of civilian security, is an embarrassment," said a statement from the bishops, who represent the largest Christian community in Lebanon. The arrests have "given critics a field day," the bishops said, adding that the presidency "should be surrounded by a halo of respect."

 KIEV (AFP) - Ukraine called for the United Nations to review its decision to replace Kiev's peacekeeping contingent in Lebanon, following findings of "significant financial misconduct  by the troops.  "We will do everything so that the decision to replace the Ukrainian contingent is reviewed," Vassyl Filipchuk, a foreign ministry spokesman, told reporters in Kiev.

Last Friday UN spokeswoman Marie Okabe said that a UN probe "has shown significant financial misconduct by Ukrainian military personnel, including the commanding officer, who served with the mission."She added that the UN had taken steps to replace the Ukrainian unit in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and to prevent the recurrence of such misconduct.

 The UN probe into the murder of Lebanon's late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri made a significant breakthrough following new information which had been provided by a Syrian defector to Chief UN Investigator Detlev Mehlis. 

According to Paris-based intelligence specialist Intelligence Online, the defector, Colonel Mohammed Safi, provided information regarding the types of explosives used in the bombing which killed Hariri last February.

Safi revealed that the explosives had been purchased from Slovakia.Safi, who had previously directed the office of General Ali Khalil, Syria's former intelligence chief, had supposedly been convinced to defect from Syria's ranks by US and Saudi intelligence services. The former colonel initially left Syria for Saudi Arabia, where he was interrogated by Saudi intelligence services and later handed over to US authorities.