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Hariri murder trial opens in The Hague

2014-01-17

The trial of the four men accused of killing former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Al Hariri opened in The Hague on Thursday, nine years after the bomb attack in which 21 others also died. The four members of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah movement are charged with planning the 2005 blast on Beirut’s waterfront, an attack which almost tipped the country back into civil war. It's only been close to nine years. And Rafik is still door-knob dead... All four - Salim Jamil Ayyash, Mustafa Amine Badreddine, Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Assad Hassan Sabra - remain at large and are bring tried in absentia. Could have done that seven years ago... “The prosecutor intends to call hundreds of witnesses in this trial and to present thousands of exhibits,” presiding judge David Re told the court. “The evidence, including a considerable amount of telecoms data, leaves marks behind concerning the true identities of the perpetrators,” said prosecutor Carla del Ponte Norman Farrell. A large scale model of the scene of the bombing scene stood in the middle of the courtroom, with a mock-up of the St George Hotel, in front of which a Mitsubishi van laden with up to 3000kg of high explosives detonated, leaving a massive crater. “The attackers used an extraordinary amount of high explosives, far more than necessary,” Farrell said. “It is not that the perpetrators did not care if they killed their fellow citizens. They intended to do so.” Brilliant analysis, just brilliant... The trial is being held in a converted basketball court in the former headquarters of the Dutch intelligence services, a building with its own moat on the outskirts of The Hague. The Hague-based Special Tribunal for Lebanon was set up with the support of the United Nations and the backing of the then Lebanese government to investigate and prosecute Hariri’s killing.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Al Qaeda threatens Hezbollah over Syria

2012-09-02

Al-Qaida recently published a harsh attack on Hezbollah, in which it calls on Shi'ites to leave the renounce the organization "if they do not wish to be the target of Al-Qaida attacks." In a recording broadcasted on Al-Qaida websites, the commander of the Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade they claim 6k fights but probably have only a few hundred in Syria, Majd al-Majd, stated that "the claim that of the Shiite leaders that Israel and the United States are responsible for the murder of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri and for sparking the rebellion in Syria are baseless. The ones behind the murder were the leaders of Hezbollah, the keepers of the border with Israel." one reason for this aggressive stance is below The Al-Qaida branch in Syria is competing with another jihadist organization headed by Jordanian Salafi preacher Muhammad Al-Shalabi, also known as "Abu Sayyaf." In an interview with Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq, Abu Sayyef said that he oversees hundreds of fighters from Jordan, Iraq, Libya and other Arab states, some of which are "fighters from Al-Qaida who went to battle in Iraq," and that his organization "received the recognition of Al-Qaida." His organization claimed responsibility for several impressive bombings in Syria, while Al-Majd claimed his organization was responsible for those same bombings.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hezbollah-backed Mikati set to lead Lebanon

2011-01-25

[Emirates 24/7] Lebanese telecoms tycoon Najib Mikati, who is backed by Hezbullies and its allies, was set to lead a new government on Monday after winning support from Druze leader Walid Wally Jumblatt. ... who's been on every side in Leb at least four times... But caretaker Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri said he and his Future Movement would not take part in a government where the Hezbullies has the upper hand. Leb was plunged into political crisis after Hezbullies and its allies walked out of Hariri's unity government on January 12 in a dispute over still-confidential indictments by a UN-backed tribunal which is investigating the 2005 killing of statesman Rafik Al-Hariri, the premier's father. Hariri has stayed on in the interim and hoped to form a new coalition. But support from Jumblatt and six members of his parliamentary bloc -- added to the 57 members of Hezbullies and their allies, plus Mikati himself -- will give Mikati 65 votes in the 128-member parliament. Hariri, a Sunni Mohammedan who has support from the United States and Soddy Arabia, said his supporters would not serve under a premier chosen by the Iranian-backed Shi'ite group. "The Future Movement ... rejects taking part in any government headed by a March 8 candidate," his office said in a statement on Monday. The March 8 bloc includes Shi'ite movements Hezbullies and Amal, along with Christian leader Michel Aoun. ...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... Hezbullies leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has offered to accept any group within a cabinet led by Mikati, a Sunni businessman and politician -- a post reserved under Leb's constitution for a member of the Sunni community. The collapse of Hariri's government and political deadlock since then has deepened sectarian divisions in Leb, and the prospect of a government formed by Hezbullies will alarm Israel, which fought a month-long war with the beturbanned goon group in 2006.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Kerry urges Lebanese to accept Hariri court

2010-11-09

[Emirates 24/7] Leb cannot change the course of a tribunal investigating the killing of statesman Rafik Al Hariri, a leading US senator said on Monday in comments acknowledging sectarian tensions over expected indictments. Shia, Iranian-backed Hezbullies is trying to block the tribunal, attempting to curb its financing and calling on Lebanese to halt cooperation with it after it emerged that members of the group may be indicted for the 2005 attack. The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday the court was moving to indict between two and six members of Hezbullies by the end of the year. Sunni, Western-backed Prime Minister Saad Al Hariri supports the UN-backed court investigating his father's death, and cooperation with the tribunal is enshrined in the policy statement of the government, of which Hezbullies is a member. Diplomats and politicians have previously said indictments may surface by early next year. As they approach, sectarian tensions have risen and political disputes between the Hariri and Hezbullies camps have escalated. "Prime Minister Hariri doesn't have the power to change the tribunal," said John I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "Leb doesn't have the power to change the tribunal because it was created by the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society at the request of this country," Kerry said after meeting Hariri and before heading on to Damascus. Hezbullies, which considers the court a tool of US and Israeli policy, has called on Hariri to repudiate the tribunal, whose investigation first pointed the finger at Syria.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Tension between Hariri, Hezbollah reaches all-time high

2010-10-04

[Arab News] At least 15 four-wheel drive vehicles, license plates covered, stormed Beirut's International Rafik Al-Hariri airport on Saturday. Out of the vehicles jumped armed Hezbullies members and other supporters of a Lebanese ex-security official, who had just arrived on a flight from Paris. The Hezbullies gunnies surrounded Gen. (ret.) Jamil Sayyed as he spoke to press at the airport, escorting him home at the end of the event. Sayyed, the former head of Leb's General Security, was jugged in 2005 and held in jail for nearly four years without charge for involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. "The Beirut airport was turned into one of Hezbullies's security quarters," an anonymous member of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri March 14 Alliance told the Arab daily Sharq Al-Awsat. "This dangerously revealed airport security." "Seeing the airport incident, it is clear that Hezbullies has decided to attack the regime," Ghazi Youssef, a Parliament member in Hariri's Al-Mustaqbal (Movement of the Future) bloc told The Media Line. "Hezbullies believes this is part of the democratic game, but what was done was a breach of the law. There are limits to freedom of expression. Mohammad Shatah, a former Lebanese minister, was less diplomatic. "The airport scene was surreal. Lebanese could have never seen such a sight in any other country in the world." But clearly more than airport security is now at stake in Leb. Before leaving for Paris on Sept. 12, Sayyed called Prime Minster Hariri a liar and urged the Lebanese to topple his government. Upon his return to Beirut, again Sayyed did not mince his words. This time, he attacked State Prosecutor Said Mirza, who called him in for questioning following his threatening statements. "Mirza is supposed to be a public prosecutor - i.e. neutral - but considering these lawsuits, he became my personal adversary," Leb's Daily Star quoted Sayyed as saying. The issue of "false witnesses" has become a main point of contention for Sayyed and his supporters in Hezbullies. The term refers to Lebanese legal and security officials who testified before the Special Tribunal for Leb, which is investigating the assassination of Hariri. Prime Minister Hariri recently rescinded his accusation of Syria as primarily responsible for his father's assassination in an interview with the Sharq Al-Awsat, acknowledging the existence of false witnesses. However, The infamous However... on Monday, Hariri reiterated his support for the Special Tribunal for Leb, defying Hezbullies's demand that Leb officially accuse Israel of the murder. Professor Eugène Sensenig-Dabbous, chairman of the Political Science department at Leb's Notre-Dame University, said that Hariri's overture toward Syria was implicitly implicating Hezbullies. "If Syria isn't involved in the assassination, who is?" he rhetorically asked in an interview with The Media Line. "It's looking more and more like Hezbullies was involved in the assassinations that took place in 2005." Sensenig-Dabbous predicted a re-alignment of powers, with Hariri's March 14 Alliance drawing closer to Syria, leaving Hezbullies isolated with Iran. "I don't know if a partnership with Michel Aoun, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah's Free Patriotic Movement and Iran will be enough for Hezbullies," Sensenig-Dabbous said. Samir Al-Sa'adawi, a Beirut-based journalist at the Arab daily Al-Hayyat, said that tensions in Leb would likely intensify rather than calm down. "The situation is tense, and is only escalating," he told The Media Line. "I don't know if the regional players, Syria and Saudi Arabia, can stop the escalation - if not, we're facing more trouble."

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Saad Al-Hariri declared Lebanon's new premier

2009-06-28

The influential member of the Lebanese Parliament, Saad Al-Hariri, was declared on Saturday as the prime minister of the planned government. The announcement was made by President Michel Suleiman after completing consultations with the various blocs of the parliament. Up to 86 members of the 128-seat Lebanese Parliament have declared support for naming the powerful Al-Hariri as head of the prospected government, it was officially declared earlier on Saturday. Lebanese President Michel Suleiman assigned Saturday MP Saad Al-Hariri to form a cabinet after 86 lawmakers nominated the son of the murdered Prime Minister for the post. Al-Hariri, 39, is the second eldest son of Rafik Al-Hariri, Lebanon's prime minister who was assassinated on February 14 2005, and is married to Lara Bashir Al-Adham and has three sons. He studied High-school in France and Saudi Arabia, Hmmm... and graduated from Georgetown University in 1992 with a degree of International Relations. Also hmmm... Al-Hariri junior became involved in politics following the murder of his father and has spearheaded the Future Current ever since. He ran for parliamentary elections in 2005 representing Beirut constituency, and has formed a majority of 35 MPs. He was re-elected this year to head a parliamentary majority of 41 lawmakers out of the 128-seat house. Al-Hariri junior has a background career in communications and information technology, and was member of boards in many private firms.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Nasrallah blames Juice for blaming Hezbollah for Hariri assassination

2009-05-26

Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said Monday pointing fingers at the Lebanese party for allegedly assassinating Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri was an Israeli accusation. Reacting to a report filed by German magazine Der Spiegel that Hezbollah was involved in the February 14, 2005, murder of Al-Hariri, Nasrallah said "this is not just a normal press report but a dangerous matter and Israel has a hand in this accusation campaign." Nasrallah's remarks came during a ceremony held in southern Beirut to mark the 9th anniversary of the liberation of south Lebanon from the Israeli occupation. The timing of the Der Spiegel's report "is dangerous" because it was published ahead of the legislative elections in Lebanon, he said. He said a special tribunal to try killers of Al-Hariri should not have its doors open for those who undermine the ongoing investigation. Nasrallah addressed the Progressive Socialist Party of MP Waleed Jumblatt and said Hezbollah and Amal movements were keen on co-existence with the Druze. He also underlined that Hezbollah was not targeting the Sunnis nor any other group in Lebanon.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Lahoud calls in army after vote fails

2007-11-24

Lebanese President Emile Lahoud ordered the army to take charge of security on Friday after political rivalry blocked the election of his successor, hours before he was due to step down. The Lebanese parliament failed on Friday to grasp its last chance to elect a head of state before pro-Syrian Lahoud’s term expires at midnight. The speaker of parliament asked members to meet again next Friday for another attempt. The move leaves the country in political vacuum with rivals claiming to be the legitimate power. A presidential statement repeated Lahoud’s view that the existing cabinet led by Western-backed Prime Minister Fouad Siniora was illegitimate. The constitution stipulates that the serving government takes on presidential powers until a new head of state is elected. A government source said Lahoud’s move was unconstitutional and worthless. Siniora’s cabinet says it will assume presidential powers until a new president is elected. Despite the claims of rival factions, there was no sign that the conflict would lead to violence soon. The army had deployed in central Beirut overnight for the parliament session. Lahoud said that “the dangers of a state of emergency exist and have been fulfilled” but experts said the wording fell short of a declaration of a state of emergency. “(The president) entrusts the army with the authority to maintain security on all Lebanese territory and put all armed forces at its disposal with effect from November 24,” Lahoud said in a statement. Another prominent opponent of the Siniora government, Christian leader and presidential candidate Michel Aoun, said in a statement the existing cabinet would become a “usurper government” as soon as Lahoud leaves office. The dispute is between an anti-Syrian parliamentary majority led by the son of assassinated former prime minister Rafik Al-Hariri and an opposition alliance led by Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran. The US and European Union called for calm. “The US government commends Lebanon’s armed forces and security services for their stated commitment to ensuring law and order,” a US State Department spokesman said. Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri, a Shia opposition leader, put off the presidential election vote for a fifth time on Friday because the rival factions were deadlocked. The delay means the presidency, always held by a Maronite Christian under Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system, will be vacant for at least a week. Unless a consensus candidate emerges soon, the country could end up saddled with competing administrations as at the end of its 1975-1990 civil war. Beirut stock exchange: Concern about the political impasse and possible instability pushed the Beirut stock exchange index down 4 percent. French-led mediation efforts failed to resolve the dispute over the presidency which reflects a regional struggle pitting Washington against Syria and Iran, both allies of Hezbollah. The US and its local allies blame Syria for the deadlock. Hezbollah and its Christian partners say the majority bloc wants to keep them from their rightful share of power. They accuse Washington of seeking to control Lebanon. More than 100 lawmakers from both camps went to parliament in downtown Beirut, but opposition MPs did not enter the assembly chamber in line with a boycott declared a day earlier. Before announcing the delay, Berri held separate meetings with majority leaders Saad Al-Hariri and Walid Jumblatt, a sign the rival camps have not yet burned all their bridges. “We are for consensus and we will remain for consensus,” Hariri said.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Lebanon Crisis May Create Two Rival Govts: Jumblatt

2007-03-29

Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said yesterday a political standoff between his ruling coalition and an opposition that includes Hezbollah might result in the creation of two rival governments if not resolved. Jumblatt said talks this month had made no progress toward solving the crisis, which has triggered Lebanon’s worst unrest since its 1975-1990 civil war. He described the situation as risky. The split between the ruling coalition, which is opposed to Syrian influence in Lebanon, and the opposition, which includes factions allied to Damascus, was on show at an Arab summit yesterday in Riyadh. Lebanon has two delegations at the meeting. “If the summit is unable to deliver something on Lebanon, meaning that it is unable to stop the Syrian regime from sabotaging the stability of Lebanon... well, it’s an open crisis. We will stay in this stalemate,” Jumblatt said. Pro-Syrian Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, whose term ends in November, has said he will not hand his authorities to the current government because, like the opposition, he considers it illegitimate. The handover is part of the procedure toward the election of a new president by parliament, where the majority of seats are held by the anti-Syrian coalition but the speaker, Nabih Berri, is an opposition leader and a Damascus ally. Jumblatt said: “They might appoint... another president on their behalf, so we’ll end up with two presidents maybe, or two governments.” The opposition has been demanding veto power in an expanded cabinet. The standoff began in November when opposition ministers quit the Cabinet and declared it unconstitutional. Jumblatt said the governing coalition would not give in to the demand for veto power. “Once they have it, they (will) block everything,” he said, adding that the opposition would use it to halt the establishment of an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri. Jumblatt and his allies accuse Syria of the killing. Damascus denies involvement. The ruling coalition says the opposition campaign aims to derail the tribunal. Hezbollah and its allies say they have no objection to the court in principle but want to discuss its mandate. Opposition leader Berri and Saad Al-Hariri, another ruling coalition leader, failed to agree on the government and the tribunal in talks this month. “There was no progress because Nabih Berri was asking for ... the blocking minority, which means the (return) of direct Syrian influence ... in exchange for a vague promise to study the tribunal. So no progress,” Jumblatt said. Resumption of talks depended on the regional sponsors of the rival Lebanese, said Jumblatt, describing Hezbollah as “an advanced military post of the Iranians.” Jumblatt’s coalition is backed by states including Saudi Arabia. “It’s a balance of power,” he said. “A regional balance of power between the Arabs on one side and the Iranians, with the Syrians, on the other.”

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Italy tells Syria EU visit may help end isolation

2007-03-14

And remember, death is not an option: who's the worse kiss-up to thugs and dictators, Prodi or Zapatero? Answers in comments. ROME - Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi told Syrian leader Bashar Al Assad on Tuesday that this week’s visit to Damascus by the European Union’s top diplomat is a good opportunity to overcome Syria’s ostracism by the West. Prodi talked by telephone with the Syrian president about EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana’s visit on Wednesday to a country largely shunned by the West for its alleged role in the 2005 assassination of Lebanese ex-premier Rafik Al Hariri. ‘This is a significant chance to work for resumed dialogue between Syria and the European Union and for better cooperation to reduce tension in various troublespots in the Middle East,’ Prodi told Assad, according to a statement from his office. Because all roads for peace just have to go through Damascus, don't they. Centre-left leader Prodi has fostered appeasement dialogue with Iran and Syria and led appeasement peacekeeping efforts in Lebanon, taking advantage of Italy’s lack of colonial baggage in the Middle East to act as a mediator. He withdrew Italian troops from Iraq last year. So everyone knows just how firm he is when it comes to peacekeeping.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Lebanese Christian leader raps Hezbollah

2006-09-25

BEIRUT - A Lebanese Christian leader said on Sunday Hezbollah’s war with Israel was a disaster for Lebanon and rapped the Shia Muslim group for rejecting calls to lay down its arms. “We don’t feel (there was a) victory because the majority of the Lebanese people doesn’t feel victory,” Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces militia-turned-political party, said at a rally attended by thousands of supporters north of Beirut. “The majority of the Lebanese people feel that a major catastrophe has befallen them, throwing their present and future up in the air,” he said. Geagea is a Maronite Christian and a member of a mainly Sunni Muslim, Druze and Christian political coalition, which hold a majority in parliament and the cabinet. You might hire someone to start your car for you, and I wouldn't drive over any recently-patched potholes in the road. He said a strong state could only emerge after Hezbollah surrenders its weapons. “Betting on maintaining weapons through force is a wrong bet. ... No weapons will make us surrender to this de facto reality,” he said referring to Hezbollah keeping it arms. Geagea led the Lebanese Forces, the main Christian militia at the time, during the later years of Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war. His anti-Syrian group surrendered its weapons at the end of the war but Geagea was jailed in 1994 for crimes during it. He was released last year, a few weeks after Syria ended its 29-year military presence in Lebanon in the wake of the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Al Hariri.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Lebanon journalist faces trial for defaming Lahoud

2006-07-04

Guess we'd better hire a lawyer, we're next, though I didn't realize it was possible to defame Lahoud. BEIRUT - A Lebanese investigative judge on Monday referred an anti-Syrian journalist and a former prominent diplomat for trial over a newspaper article he said defamed President Emile Lahoud, a staunch toady ally of Damascus. Beirut judge Abdel-Rahim Hammoud said the charges against Fares Khashan were related to an article published in the newspaper Al Mustaqbal (The Future) on Feb. 24, which quoted disparaging remarks about Lahoud made by Johnny Abdou, a former military intelligence chief and ambassador to France. The daily’s editor-in-charge, Tawfik Khattab, will also appear before Beirut’s Publications’ Court, Hammoud said in a statement faxed to Reuters. Al Mustaqbal is owned by the family of former Prime Minister Rafik Al Hariri, who was assassinated in a February 2005 bomb blast in Beirut. That helps to make this clear. Both Khashan and Abdou are abroad and are likely to stay there. If convicted, each could face up to two years in jail or a maximum fine of about $65,000.

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