DOHA, October 30, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Sunday, October 30, he feared the United Nations would "unfairly" punish his country as the world body prepares to issue a resolution threatening sanctions against Damascus.

"Some quarters within the Security Council are trying to turn it into a tribunal whereby Chapter VII (of the UN charter) would be unfairly applied against Syria," Muallem told reporters after arriving in Qatar from Saudi Arabia, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Muallem said he was discussing "ideas" with Gulf Arab leaders pertaining to "the dangers to which Syria and the region are exposed... and the injustice inflicted on us."

He said he might reveal the substance of these "ideas" at the end of his current Gulf tour, which began with a meeting with Saudi King Abdullah in Makkah Saturday, October 29, adding that he had walked away "with the full solidarity of the Saudi monarch and people."

The United States had led calls for Syria to be held "accountable" for its alleged role in last February's assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Al-Hariri after the UN inquiry led by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis accused top Syrian officials of organizing the crime and lambasted a lack of cooperation from Damascus.

President Bashar Al-Assad has denied any Syrian involvement in the murder, asserting that any Syrian individual implicated in the killing would be punished as a traitor and possibly sent to an international court.

Muallem described as "dangerous" the resolution which the Security Council is expected to pass on Monday, October 31, threatening sanctions against Syria.

"This is a dangerous resolution, prepared a month before release of the Mehlis report during meetings in Paris, London and Washington," Muallem said.

The resolution Syria faces at the Security Council calls for Damascus to detain suspected nationals and urges states to impose a travel ban and a freeze of assets on all individuals designated as suspects.

But the proposed resolution, drafted by the United States and France, also has a provision which allows the council to decide what measures other than the use of force may be used to assure compliance, such as economic and diplomatic sanctions.

Muallem said a Syrian inquiry into Hariri's murder, announced Saturday, would have "full authority to investigate any person, whether civilian or military," and would cooperate with both the UN probe and Lebanese authorities.

But he skirted a question on whether the Syrian probe would cover members of President Bashar Al-Assad's inner circle, including brother Maher and brother-in-law Assef Shawkat, who were named in a leaked confidential version of the Mehlis report.

"The published report did not contain these names," Muallem said.