Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. will likely ask the United Nations to impose sanctions on the Syrian government or Syrian officials implicated in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri by a report that Syria's ambassador called a ``big lie,'' Argentine and Russian envoys said.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton moved quickly today to gather support for action against Syria, saying he would meet with envoys from France, China, Russia and the U.K., the other four permanent members of the Security Council, and with the Romanian envoy who is president of the panel this month.

``We are considering a range of options,'' Bolton told reporters. ``It is a very hard-hitting report. There will be other announcements and statements from us during the course of the day.'' Bolton also called the report ``historic.''

Russian Ambassador Andrei Denisov and Ambassador Cesar Mayoral of Argentina, a Security Council member, said they expect the U.S. to introduce a resolution calling for sanctions against the Syrian government or officials implicated in the report, released yesterday by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis.

``This is a crisis,'' Denisov said.

``Syria is in a mess,'' Mayoral said.

Peaceful Solutions

U.S. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli, at a briefing in Washington, declined to discuss a range of possible actions, including possible military action, saying ``we seek peaceful, negotiated diplomatic solutions.''

``I think our focus right now is on multilateral collective action,'' Ereli said, when asked whether the Bush administration is considering additional U.S. sanctions under the Syria Accountability Act. Bush imposed sanctions on Syria in May 2004, including banning U.S. exports to Syria except for food and medicine. Further sanctions remain at Bush's disposal under the Act.

Seven senior Syrian officials, including President Bashar al- Assad's brother and brother-in-law, are suspects in the assassination of Hariri, Mehlis said in his 54-page report. Hariri, a five-time prime minister of Lebanon, was killed by a bomb in Beirut on Feb. 14.

Indictments

The report, which doesn't directly implicate Bashar-al-Assad, says there was ``converging evidence pointing at both Lebanese and Syrian involvement.'' One current and three former Lebanese security officials were indicted Sept. 1 in connection with the assassination.

Public outrage at Hariri's assassination and international pressure forced Syria to end a 29-year military presence in Lebanon in April. The Security Council in a resolution adopted Sept. 2, 2004, ordered the withdrawal of all Syrian troops and intelligence agents. Both UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have expressed doubts that Syria removed all of its intelligence agents.

``This is absolutely unacceptable,'' Syrian Ambassador Fayssal Mekdad told reporters at the UN. ``It is not a credible report. It is a pity that people are sitting and dreaming and writing reports.''

`Ridiculous' Critique

Mekdad said some Security Council members were ``blackmailing'' the UN into accusing Syrian officials of complicity in Hariri's murder.

Bolton, who said he met for an hour today with Mehlis, called Mekdad's critique of the report ``ridiculous.''

Denisov said Russia considers the report ``credible.''

``Many leads point directly towards Syrian security officials as being directly involved,'' the report said. It said an unnamed witness told Mehlis that Assad's brother, Maher, and brother-in- law Assef Shawkat plotted the assassination, along with five other Syrian officials named in the report.

Mehlis said the assassination had to have been ``carried out by a group with an extensive organization and considerable resources.'' He said Syrian officials cooperated with the investigation ``in form, not substance,'' and ``made it difficult to follow leads established by the evidence.''

Mekdad said Syria ``cooperated fully'' with Mehlis.

The report cited evidence of a series of contacts between Lebanese and Syrian intelligence officials before the attack.

Assassination Decision

The unnamed witness, a Syrian living in Lebanon ``who claims to have worked for the Syrian intelligence services in Lebanon, has stated that approximately two weeks after the adoption of the Security Council resolution, senior Lebanese and Syrian officials decided to assassinate Rafik Hariri,'' the report said.

The report said the Syrian informant ``claimed that a senior Lebanese security official went several times to Syria to plan the crime, meeting once at the Meridien Hotel in Damascus and several times at the presidential palace and the office of a senior Syrian security official.''

It said the last meeting was held in the house of the same senior Syrian security official approximately seven to 10 days before the assassination.

The van that carried the bomb entered Lebanon from Syria on Jan. 21 and was driven by a Syrian army colonel, the report said.

The release of the report created controversy when the UN released two versions, one with the names of the Syrian officials and one that didn't identify them. Mehlis said he ordered the edits after learning that the report would be made public.

``It was supposed to be confidential,'' he said, denying that any governments or UN officials influenced his decisions.

Mehlis is scheduled to brief the Security Council on his report on Oct. 24, and will continue the investigation until at least Dec. 15.

To contact the reporters on this story: Bill Varner in United Nations at wvarner@bloomberg.net Janine Zacharia in Washington at jzacharia@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 21, 2005 15:02 EDT