UN investigators have taken a statement from Lebanese President Emile Lahoud on the assassination of former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri, the president's office says.

Two investigators came to the presidential palace in Baabda on Friday evening to take the statement, the office said in a news release.

In its interim report last month, the UN commission said Lahoud was not a suspect in the 14 February truck bombing that killed al-Hariri and 20 others on a Beirut street. But it said a suspect made a call to the president's phone minutes before the blast.

"The president informed [the investigators] of the accurate information pertaining to what has been reported about phone calls to the presidential palace before and after the crime, in addition to rumours relating to the crime that were carried by the media," said the presidential statement.

Lahoud said Ahmad al-Alali, a leader of the charity association al-Ahbash, called the presidential palace shortly before the explosion took place, presidential sources told Aljazeera.

Officials close to the UN investigation said the investigators asked the president about communications and the chain of command in his office.

Lebanese political sources told Aljazeera that the meeting lasted six hours.

Four Lebanese generals are under arrest and charged with al-Hariri's murder after the UN commission named them as suspects. One of the generals is the commander of the presidential guard and two others are close to Lahoud.

PHOTO CAPTION

President of Lebanon Emile Lahoud addresses the 2005 World Summit during the 60th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York in this September 16, 2005 file photo. (Reuters)