The UN mission looking into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Al Hariri was heavily critical of both Lebanon and Syria and recommended "an independent international investigation" to find the truth. The head of the mission, Peter FitzGerald, deputy commissioner of the Irish police, handed the report to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan who endorsed the recommendations and sent it on to members of the Security Council.

The report concluded: "It is the mission's view that the Lebanese security services and the Syrian military intelligence bear the primary responsibility for the lack of security, protection, law and order in Lebanon," adding that the Lebanese security forces "failed to provide the citizens of Lebanon an acceptable level of security and thus have contributed to the propagation of a culture of intimidation and impunity. The Syrian military intelligence shares this responsibility to the extent of its involvement in running the security services in Lebanon." The 19-page report also stated: "The government of Syria bears primary responsibility for the political tension that preceded the assassination… It exerted influence that goes beyond the reasonable exercise of cooperative or neighborly relations. It interfered with the details of governance in Lebanon in a heavy-handed and inflexible manner that was the primary reason for the political polarization that ensued… Obviously this [Syrian-controlled] atmosphere provided the backdrop for the assassination of Hariri."

The report also noted that the Lebanese investigation process suffers from serious flaws and “the credibility of the Lebanese authorities handling the investigation is questioned by a great number of Lebanese, in the opposition as

well as in government.” It demanded an independent international investigation by a self-sufficient team with the necessary support staff and resources.

Ambassador Fayssal Mekdad of Syria disagreed with the FitzGerald report and claimed that the tension in Lebanon was caused by Resolution 1559 of the UN Security Council, which demanded the withdrawal of Syrian troops from the country, adding: ”This is the background that polarized the Lebanese people, not the Syrian presence, which has been… welcomed by all the Lebanese."