Beirut  - An officer believed to be linked to the 2005 assassination of then-Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri was the target of Syria's blast on Saturday, an Italian report said Tuesday.

Syrian opposition sources told the Italian news agency Adnkronos International that last Saturday's explosion in Damascus targeted the deputy director of the Palestinian Branch of Syrian Intelligence, officer Abdul Karim Abbas.

The sources said that the Independent International Investigation Committee charged with investigating the assassination of Hariri, had previously heard testimony from Abbas.

The Syrian state News Agency SANA said Sunday an Islamist suicide bomber was responsible for a car bomb that killed 17 people the day before in Damascus.

SANA said the vehicle had entered Syria from a neighbouring Arab country on September 26. It did not say which country. Syria's Arab neighbours are Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan.

Hariri was assassinated on February 14, 2005 when explosives equivalent to around 1000 kilograms of dynamite were detonated as his motorcade drove past the St. George Hotel in the capital Beirut.

The investigation into his assassination is still ongoing under the supervision of the United Nations and led by the independent investigator Daniel Bellemare. Syria and its allies in Lebanon were widely blamed for his assassination, a charge denied by Damascus.

Hariri's killing led to massive political protests in Lebanon which culminated in the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon after a 30-year military presence. (dpa)