"The commission has received a number of threats which were deemed, in the assessment of our security personnel, to be credible."

Herr Mehlis said that the threats came from "unknown groups" and not specifically from any Syrian or Lebanese officials. "There were fliers that were being distributed in southern Lebanon threatening the commission and myself," he said. "There were other more credible threats from alleged groups."

Extra security measures have already been taken around the fortified UN offices in central Beirut, with additional concrete barriers installed. Even so, Nejib Friji, the UN spokesman in Beirut, had to be pulled out of the country "for his own safety" and has been temporarily reassigned to another UN mission.

And in the same article, we see what could be a harbinger of things to come, should Syria's exercise poor judgement.

President Bush said he hoped that Syria would co-operate with the UN inquiry. "I am hoping they will co-operate. (Military action) is the last -- very last -- option," he told al-Arabiya television.

Yet the Hariri matter isn't the only issue facing Syria. This evening, President Bush added other issues that Syria must address:

Syria is destabilizing Lebanon, permitting terrorists to use its territory to reach Iraq, and giving safe harbor to Palestinian terrorist groups. The United Nations has passed strong resolutions against terror. Now the United Nations must act -- and Syria and its leaders must be held accountable for their continuing support for terrorism, including any involvement in the murder of Prime Minister Hariri.

Expect much more to come. Pundita offers some sobering thoughts on just how much more turmoil could come out of the aftermath of Hariri's death:

... a quarter century from today, the 9/11 attack on America might have only a page in the history books, whereas Hariri's death could net an entire chapter. Why? Because his death was the "9/11" for Jacques Chirac and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah. What this means for the Middle East and in turn the rest of the world is only starting to unfold.

The only thing that's guaranteed in war is that both sides will make mistakes. Excluding the folly of the 9/11 attack and information still locked in classified reports, the biggest mistake the other side has made so far was ordering the death of Rafik Hariri. So keep your eye on reports about Syria.

So will Syria continue to make really stupid decisions causing a cascade of events that further deteriorate the fragile stability that exists in the region - such as it is today? Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed, writing in Champress, an independent media group in Damascus, says in his piece - "What's Syria's Next Move":

Damascus has a few options at hand, the most prominent of which is to either cooperate or reject the UN Commission resolution. Rejection means that Syria will be prone to two alternatives; firstly, the Iraqi situation in which Iraq also took the rejection stance, and was obstinate until it surrendered. By then war had broken out and Iraq had collapsed. The other alternative is the Libyan case, in which Libya refused to cooperate only to surrender after suffering from the sanctions carried out against it, just before military action was to take place, thus its crises ended.

The other option that Syria can follow is to accept the international resolution that has condemned it and to cooperate with the international team. Such a decision would mean that the Syrian regime must condemn this crime and surrender completely those who were involved, thus escaping a cycle of disasters that would infest Syria for the upcoming years. Such an option is the simplest and most attainable at this moment, and will spare Syria the pains of sanctions and will ward off a definite disaster.

Damascus can simply use this crisis for its own interest and avoid this tragedy with the least possible of losses. If so, Syria will be able to survive the current circumstances that countries bigger than Syria are surviving. If Syria was to surprise the international community with acceptance and cooperation rather than a rejection, whilst stating all its reservations, it will then ensure a new stage of security. Consequently all attempts to topple the Syrian regime and destabilize the country would be defeated.

All countries of the region want a stable Syria and would exert their best efforts to ensure that such an option is valid, yet these countries cannot help Syria if it itself does not make the effort, as it rarely did when it withdrew its forces from Lebanon and accepted the international investigation.

Syria is a key player in the political game of the region, and the first to realize so are the Lebanese themselves. No one argues against this claim, except those who want to use this crisis and the international condemnation of Syria for their own interest. Syria could be dragged into many perplexities, and its political and security interests could be at risk as long as a unanimous international resolution of the Security Council countries is issued against Syria.

We hope that Syria will consider the Iraqi and Libyan experiences with the international community, bearing in mind that the current political and security circumstances are much worse than those experienced by the mentioned regimes. Nowadays, a huge force is building against Syria, along with a furious Lebanese public opinion and the existence of clear evidence against Syria similar to the evidence of Libya's involvement in the Lockerbie bombing. All these factors make Syria an easy catch.

In such crises, political wisdom must be the main actor in which the safety of the country should precede that of individuals, public interest must come before personal interest, and finally the bitter taste of accusation should be swallowed so as to avoid potential sanctions.

A stable Syria is in the best interest of both the United States and the region, and should the current regime be toppled, there is a danger that it's replacement could be a turn for the worse, as impossible as that seems now considering the current Syrian relationship to terrorism and the insurgency in Iraq.

Related:
Syria 'must be held to account over Hariri death'

Both Bashar Assad & Mahmoud Abbas Are Teetering

The UN investigator of the Hariri murder: Syria tried to mislead the investigation

Hat tip - Riehl World View