New evidence has only reinforced investigators’ belief that the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services were likely involved in the assassination of Lebanon’s former prime minister, a UN probe said in a new report today.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a personal appeal today for Iraqis to bridge sectarian differences, venturing to a majority Sunni Arab region of the country to ask for cooperation in the coming election.

US president George Bush called on the United Nations to convene a session as soon as possible to deal with a UN report implicating Syrian officials in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.