Chief UN investigator on the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri has postponed his visit to Syria, the official SANA news agency reported on Friday.

"Detlev Mehlis has informed Syria's permanent representative to the United Nations that he will not be able to come to Damascus tomorrow and he proposed Monday Sept. 12 instead," an official source at the Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying.

The source added that the foreign ministry accepted the new time and informed the envoy its approval.

Hariri was killed in a car bombing in Beirut this February. The United Nations has complained that Syria was not fully cooperating with the probe into the murder while Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has pledged full cooperation with the UN investigation, saying Mehlis could question anyone he would like to.

Mehlis on Thursday asked UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan for 40 more days to wrap up his work as his mandate will expire on Sept.

15. Annan planned to relay that request on Friday to the UN Security Council, which authorized the international investigation into the killing.

Source: Xinhua