BEIRUT, Lebanon - Senior Lebanese officials today rejected a U.N. report linking the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri to tensions over Syrian domination of Lebanon, saying the U.N. mission exceeded its authority in accusing the government of negligence.

"The (U.N.) mission had no authority to allow it to reach these conclusions," Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud said of the U.N. report released Thursday.

"We see this as infringement on the role of the Lebanese government," he said, but insisted that the government "welcomes all means" to find the truth about the Feb. 14 bombing that killed Hariri and 17 others on a Beirut seafront street.

The U.N. report, released Thursday, does not directly assign blame. But it did say that "it is clear that the assassination took place in a political and security context marked by an acute polarization around the Syrian influence in Lebanon."

Hammoud rejected this, blaming the tensions on outside interference.

"We say that tension began when signals started coming from abroad that a resolution was to be issued by the Security Council - it later became 1559 - this resolution pushed the atmosphere toward political polarization," he said.

Justice Minister Adnan Addoum stressed the U.N. report was not a legal opinion.

"We consider it a technical, security document and it cannot be considered a legal and judicial document," he told the same news conference.

Separately, Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh acknowledged "flaws" in the security system as the report noted.

The comments from senior government officials came hours after President Emile Lahoud signaled Lebanon's acceptance of the report's recommendations for an international inquiry, telling U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to do "what is necessary" to uncover the truth behind Hariri's assassination.

Hariri's killing led to political turmoil in Lebanon, and subsequent mass demonstrations forced the resignation of the Lebanese government. The protests and intensified the international campaign for Syria to withdraw its troops from the country.

Syria has now pulled back its troops and intelligence agents into eastern Lebanon toward the border and has been promising to work out their complete removal with Lahoud's pro-Syrian government in Beirut.