Syria is confident it could cope with any sanctions against Damascus over the killing of Lebanon's former prime minister, its deputy prime minister said in comments published on Wednesday.

Speaking to Britain's Financial Times, Abdullah al-Dardari said Syria had set up an economic crisis team to plan for "every scenario".

But he said he was confident his country would avoid sanctions by working with the UN investigation into the death of Rakif Hariri in a February bombing in Beirut.

Copyright Reuters, 2005