Rana Koleilat, ( R) who is also under investigation for a multimillion-dollar ( euro) fraud at the Lebanese bank where she once worked, was arrested in Sao Paulo on March 12, 2006 for allegedly trying to bribe police officers who located her for Interpol.

She was interrogated for about five hours at the federal police's headquarters in Sao Paulo, but police would not immediately release any information about the interrogation, federal police officer Leopoldo de Alencar said.

The U.N. commission is investigating what Koleilat knows about Hariri's assassination and whether money that disappeared from the Al-Madina Bank where she worked was used to finance the February 2005 truck bombing in Beirut that killed Hariri and 22 others.

Koleilat has said she knows nothing about the missing money or the assassination of Hariri.

Brazil's government has turned down Koleilat's request for political asylum and is processing Lebanon's extradition request.

Last week, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern that U.N. efforts have so far failed to get Lebanon to approve an international tribunal to prosecute suspects in Hariri's assassination. He urged the Lebanese parliament to act before its term ends next month.

An initial U.N. investigation into Hariri's assassination implicated the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services. Syria denied involvement, but four pro-Syrian Lebanese generals were charged and are in custody. Hariri was seen as an opponent of Syrian influence in Lebanon.

According to Lebanese security sources Rana Koleilat was in jail in Lebanon , but she was able to escape with the help of Syrian intelligence chief Rustom Ghazaleh during the Syrian occupation.

Sources: AP, Ya Libnan