The United Nations team investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has found evidence of an official cover-up of the murder, The Independent newspaper reported Monday.

According to the paper's chief Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk the U.S. President George Bush will 'announce' on Wednesday that Syrian - and perhaps Lebanese - military intelligence officers were involved in the February 14th murder.

The Irish-led UN-team, which was supported by Swiss bomb experts, found that many of the smashed vehicles in Harari's convoy were moved from the scene within hours of the attack, and well before an independent investigation could begin.

First reports that Hariri - along with 18 other civilians - were killed by a car bomb are being challenged by the evidence, Fisk wrote.

Investigators believe that the estimated 600 kilograms of explosives could have been buried beneath the seafront avenue.

Suspicion is also focused on a photograph obtained by the Independent.

The "unique photograph", taken on February 12, showed a "mysterious object" at the edge of a drain cover on the road at exactly the spot where the massive explosion happened.

The photograph has been handed over to the UN team, the paper says.

In their search for evidence, the UN team had interviewed General Rustum Ghazale, the senior Syrian army intelligence officer in Lebanon.

Copyright 2005 Al Jazeera Publishing Limited

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