However defiant officials and thousands of Syrians who turned out to protest in the aftermath of the resolution maintained Damascus's innocence over the assassination, even though a report by the inquiry team has implicated top security officials here.

The resolution, passed by 15 votes to 0, demands that Syria detain suspects and urges a travel ban and a freeze of assets on all individuals designated as suspects in the slaying.

While a passage threatening sanctions was withdrawn to ensure a unanimous vote, the text does say the council "if necessary, could consider further action." It did not spell out what the action could be.

"The resolution is unjust. Syria regrets that such a resolution was adopted unanimously. This arouses concern and regret among the Syrian people," a high-ranking official in Damascus told AFP.

More than a thousand Syrians turned out close to the US embassy to react to the resolution, carrying banners including "We Have Nothing To Hide".

Anti-riot police were installed outside the US embassy where they prevented a dozen young people from going in.

Syrian Expatriates Minister Bussaina Shaaban maintained in an interview with CNN that "Syria wants to cooperate because Syria wants to know the truth and wants to know who killed Hariri.

"We are the people who are suffering as a consequence of this terrorist act and we are certainly most interested in finding out who the perpetrators are and we will certainly cooperate until these perpetrators are found."

She said that Syria had given full access to the UN team led by German magistrate Detlev Mehlis and would continue to do so.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara dismissed the adoption of the resolution as "illogical" and said implicating Syrian officials in Hariri's killing was akin to implicating the US, Spanish and British governments in the September 11, 2001; March 3, 2003; or July 7, 2005 bombings.

"It is not the first time that Syria is subjected to enormous pressures even if the ones today are the most dangerous. It has overcome them in the past and will overcome attempts to put it on its knees," said the editor of the state-run Al-Thawra daily, Fayez Sayegh.

However for all its outward confidence Syria finds itself in a tight corner and knows it has only a limited amount of time to prove to the outside world that its will to cooperate is genuine.

"Damascus only has one choice and that is to cooperate with the international community according to the rules laid out in Resolution 1636," said a Western diplomat in Damascus.

"The Syrian president must want and be able to cooperate to save the stability of his country."

Meanwhile, Russia yesterday praised a compromise UN resolution warning Syria to cooperate with an investigation into the murder of a former Lebanese premier, saying the watered-down text put the accent on peaceful solutions to the crisis.

"The threat of automatic sanctions against Syria as a state was removed. Attempts to accuse Damascus without any proof of involvement in terrorist activities were set aside," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"It is especially important that the adopted resolution confirms the need to resolve the situation peacefully."