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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
ŽRelease will tip balance in LebanonŽ
2009-05-02
[Jerusalem Post Middle East] A general freed after nearly four years in jail in connection with the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri said Thursday his release by a UN-backed tribunal discredited Lebanon's judiciary and could shift the country's fragile political balance.

Brig. Gen. Jamil al-Sayyed, one of the former Lebanese security officials the tribunal ordered released on Wednesday citing insufficient evidence, called for the resignation of senior Lebanese judges.

"Inevitably, there will be political consequences," Sayyed told The Associated Press in an interview. "It was only natural that when the tribunal took a decision that goes against the politically motivated detention, there would be an opposite political impact."

The tribunal's decision was a setback for Lebanon's pro-Western political bloc headed by Hariri's son Saad. Senior judiciary officials who were in charge of the generals' case are considered by many to be close to Saad Hariri and his alliance. The bloc, which holds a majority in parliament, was struggling to contain the political damage heading into crucial elections in June against a Hizbullah-led faction.

Hariri was killed along with 22 others in a massive 2005 truck bombing on a Beirut street. The billionaire businessman and longtime ally of Syria was quietly challenging Damascus' three decades of domination over Lebanon at the time of his assassination and his killing sparked a domestic and international outcry that forced Syria and its tens of thousands of troops out of the country.

Hariri's supporters blamed Syria for the killing, a charge Damascus denies. The four released by the special international tribunal set up to find out who was behind Hariri's killing were the only suspects in custody.

Sayyed was considered Syria's strongman in Lebanon. He and the other three freed generals - Ali al-Hajj, Raymond Azar and Mustafa Hamdan - directed the chief security and military intelligence services and the presidential guard. They were instrumental in implementing Syrian policy in Lebanon in the years before the Syrian army was forced to withdraw.

Their arrest nearly four years ago was a condemnation of Syria and its allies in Lebanon, so their release is likely to boost the pro-Syrian factions led by Hizbullah.

Sayyed was receiving well-wishers at a hotel as Lebanon was coming to grips with the new political reality after the release of the generals.

"What happened yesterday amounts to the downfall of the Lebanese judiciary at the hands of the international justice," he said. He said he would consider himself compensated "if the judges who erred, the officers and the journalists who fed the false witnesses with information, resign as a result of the court's decision."

He said he would wait for their resignation or dismissal, but if that does not happen, he and the others may eventually bring a lawsuit against those responsible for his detention.

"I do not seek revenge. ... But at the same time, I like accountability," he said.

The tribunal was imposed on Lebanon by the UN Security Council after deep divisions prevented parliament from ratifying its formation. The majority supported it as a way to limit Syria's influence and end a series of political assassinations that followed Hariri's. But the minority, particularly Hizbullah, saw it as a Western tool to pressure it and ally Damascus.

The generals were arrested after the first UN investigator, Detlev Mehlis, said the complexity of the assassination plot suggested a role by Syrian intelligence services and its pro-Syria Lebanese counterpart. An early draft of a report he issued in 2005 linked Syrian President Bashar Assad's inner circle but the two investigators who succeeded him did not repeat the accusations and said Syria was cooperating.

Hizbullah wasted no time in capitalizing on the release. Its officials flanked the freed generals Wednesday as supporters set off fireworks and danced.

"The priority is to hold accountable those responsible for the years of deception and stalling," a Hizbullah statement said.

Saad Hariri's political ally Walid Jumblatt, an outspoken critic of Syria, sought to rally supporters ahead of the elections.

"We will win the elections for the sake of justice and for the sake of Rafik Hariri," he told reporters Thursday. He said he accepts the court's decision but "we will not drop the political accusations" against Syria.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Lebanon frees four generals held in Hariri case
2009-04-30
[Al Arabiya Latest] Four Lebanese generals detained for nearly four years in connection with the 2005 assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri were released on Wednesday following a ruling to that effect by a special U.N. court.

The four were escorted separately out of Roumieh prison on the outskirts of Beirut in a convoy of vehicles after the pre-trial judge at The Hague-based Special Tribunal for Lebanon said there was insufficient evidence to charge them.

Lebanese political circles eagerly awaited the decision by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) as the court has been at the center of a tug of war between the country's pro- and anti-Syrian factions.

The four generals were legally transferred to the court's custody after Beirut relinquished its jurisdiction in the Hariri case earlier this month, following the launch of the STL in March. The generals included the former head of the presidential guard, Mustafa Hamdan, security services director Jamil Sayyed, domestic security chief Ali Hajj and military intelligence chief Raymond Azar.

They were detained following the massive February 2005 bomb blast on the Beirut seafront that killed Hariri and 22 other people, stirring a political crisis and leading to the withdrawal of Syrian troops in Lebanon after a 29-year presence.

Daniel Fransen, the pre-trial judge of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon based in The Hague, announced his decision at 1200 GMT in a broadcast transmitted live on Lebanese television and in an Internet webcast.

A U.N. investigative commission had said there was evidence that Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services were linked to Hariri's killing. Damascus has consistently denied any involvement.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
D-Day set for four suspects in Hariri case
2009-04-19
[Al Arabiya Latest] A United Nations special court's prosecutor has until April 27 to recommend whether to release four generals held over the 2005 murder of Lebanon's ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar said Friday.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) judge, Daniel Fransen of Belgium, instructed prosecutor Daniel Bellemare to give his grounds, within the next 10 days, for their release or continued detention, Najjar said.

" After the 27th, the judge... will take a decision and call on the Lebanese authorities either to release the detainees or to hold on to them for the tribunal "
Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar
"After the 27th, the judge... will take a decision and call on the Lebanese authorities either to release the detainees or to hold on to them for the tribunal," Najjar said.

"Bellemare had asked for 21 days (from April 15) to give a recommendation due to the large number of files and papers which he has received from the Lebanese judiciary," the minister said. "But Fransen has set a shorter deadline."

On April 8 the STL, which began work on March 1 and is based in The Hague, said that Lebanon -- as instructed -- had supplied a list of those detained over Hariri's assassination to the tribunal charged with trying the suspects.

But a Lebanese investigating judge earlier this month lifted arrest warrants against the four generals jailed since 2005 in connection with the murder. However, the judge also ordered that the four remain in jail pending a decision by the STL on their fate.

The generals, who have not been charged, are the former head of the presidential guard, Mustafa Hamdan, security services director Jamil Sayyed, domestic security chief Ali Hajj and military intelligence chief Raymond Azar.

The huge Feb. 14, 2005 bomb blast on the Beirut seafront killed Hariri and 22 others, stirring a political crisis and leading to the withdrawal of Syrian troops in Lebanon after a 29-year presence.

A U.N. investigative commission said there was evidence that Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services were linked to Hariri's killing. Damascus consistently denied any involvement.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Warrants lifted against Lebanon generals in Hariri case
2009-04-09
BEIRUT - A Lebanese investigating judge on Wednesday lifted arrest warrants against four high-ranking generals jailed since 2005 in connnection with former premier Rafiq Hariri’s murder, a judicial official told AFP. However the official, who asked not to be identified, added that Judge Sakr Sakr also ordered that the four remain in jail pending a decision on their fate by The Hague-based Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).
That's it, send them to the hotel prison at The Hague. They can die a comfortable old age.
Sakr issued his decision as he approved the transfer of Lebanese documents linked to a probe into Hariri’s 2005 assassination to the tribunal set up to try suspects in the case and in the killings of other Lebanese figures. “Lebanon’s justice system has decided to stand back from the case and stop its probe,” Sakr said in his ruling.

He added that it was up to the STL to decide whether the generals, who have not been formally charged, would remain behind bars.

The four generals are the former head of the presidential guard, Mustafa Hamdan, security services director Jamil Sayyed, domestic security chief Ali Hajj and military intelligence chief Raymond Azar.

The UN-sponsored tribunal had called on Lebanon last month to hand over documents related to the Hariri case and results of the local investigation.

Hariri’s murder in a seafront bombing was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since its 1975-1990 civil war and led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops after a 29-year presence. A UN investigative commission has pointed to evidence that Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services were involved in Hariri’s February 14, 2005 killing.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hezbollah demands Lebanese generals be freed
2009-03-01
Hezbollah demanded on Saturday the freeing of four Lebanese generals who have been held without trial for years in connection with the 2005 murder of former premier Rafiq Hariri. Their continued detention "is for political reasons ... given that they have not even been questioned in three years," said a statement from the powerful Shiite movement. "That confirms the arbitrariness of their detention."
They sound .. unhappy ...
The statement calls on investigating judge Sakr Sakr to "take the right decision of freeing the four generals as quickly as possible and not give in to political pressures."

On Friday, two days before a UN tribunal into the assassination opens in The Hague, Sakr rejected demands to free the generals for the second time this week. A similar request was rejected on Wednesday on the grounds that the authorities had not completed their investigation, a source close to the case told AFP.

But Sakr on Wednesday did free on bail three other suspects held in connection with Hariri's murder in a February 2005 car bombing.

The generals are the former head of the presidential guard Mustafa Hamdan, security services director Jamil Sayyed, domestic security chief Ali Hajj and military intelligence chief Raymond Azar. They were arrested in August 2005, six months after Hariri's assassination. He was killed along with 22 other people when a massive car bomb exploded as his convoy passed by near the Beirut waterfront.

Their lawyers have repeatedly argued that their detention is "illegal" and "unfounded" and that their clients are being held on false testimony that was later retracted.
After those who gave were 'persuaded' ...
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Lebanon frees three suspects in Hariri killing
2009-02-26
Lebanon on Wednesday released three of seven suspects held over the 2005 murder of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, the office of public prosecutor Said Mirza told AFP.

The move comes just days before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, set up to try suspects over the Beirut bomb blast in February 2005 that killed Hariri and 22 other people opens its doors in The Hague on Sunday.

The three are Lebanese brothers Mahmoud and Ahmed Abdel Aal and Syrian Ibrahim Jarjura, all civilians who were being held on suspicion of withholding information and misleading the probe into the assassination. The investigating judge Sakr Sakr rejected demands for the release of two other suspects -- former Lebanese security services director Jamil Sayyed and domestic security chief Ali Hajj, a judicial source said.

No reason for release
They are among four Lebanese generals who were pillars of the security apparatus long orchestrated by Syria, the country's then powerbroker which has roundly denied accusations it was behind the assassination.

The other two suspects are Mustafa Hamdan, who headed the presidential guard, and Raymond Azar, who was commander of army intelligence.

The generals have been detained since August 2005 on suspicion of premeditated murder, attempted premeditated murder and carrying out terrorist acts but none of the seven have ever been indicted for the murder,

Sakr released the two Lebanese brothers on bail of about $300 and the Syrian on about $70. They were arrested in October 2005 but no reasons were given for their release.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Lebanon refuses to free 4 Generals linked to Hariri murder
2008-08-10
Prosecutor Saqr Saqr refused to free the four men, who have pleaded their innocence and repeatedly asked for their release through their lawyers, a judicial official said.

But Saqr agreed to release two of the nine suspects detained following Hariri's murder in a massive Beirut car bomb blast in February 2005, the official added. The pair had been held for giving false information.

The generals are former presidential guard chief General Mustafa Hamdan ( top left) , the former head of the general security department General Jamil Sayyed ( top right) , the former head of the internal security forces General Ali Hajj (lower left) and the former chief of army intelligence General Raymond Azar ( lower right) .

In April the government defended as "perfectly legal" the holding of the officers after criticism by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, which said their detention without charge was "arbitrary" and "unjust."

But the government insisted the men could not be released for fear they would flee with the help of "influential parties" -- a reference to both Syria and the Hezbollah group.

Syria has been implicated in Hariri's murder but has denied any involvement.

After the murder Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon under international pressure, ending a 29-year deployment.

In June the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to extend for another six months the mandate of the U.N. panel probing Hariri's murder.

An international tribunal is to try suspects in the Hariri crime and related murders
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Mehlis: I recommended the detention of the four officers
2008-03-21
Detlev Mehlis, former Chief UN investigator of the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, said that he recommended the detention of the four Lebanese officers. During an interview with the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC) he said, "there was evidence against them with regards to the assassination and we had evidence that they planned to leave the country." He added, "they should remain in jail since the UN has not issued any orders to release them."

The four detained pro-Syrian generals are: Brig. Gen. Jamil Sayyed who was the former head of Lebanon's General Security Department known as Surete Generale, Brig. Gen. Ali Hajj was ex-commander of the Internal Security Forces (ISF), Brig. Gen. Raymond Azar was former commander of the army's intelligence service and Brig. Gen. Mustafa Hamdan was the commander of the army's Presidential Guard Brigade.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Heirs of Hariri bodyguards demand dismissal of Lebanese judge
2007-06-30
The heirs of four slain bodyguards who died in the 2005 car bombing that killed Lebanon's former Premier Rafik Hariri have demanded the dismissal of Judge Elias Eid as investigating magistrate in the case. Mohammad Mattar, the lawyer for the heirs, on Wednesday filed a request that Judge Eid be replaced. Mattar cited Eid's alleged "intention" to release former security officials Brig. Gen. Jamil Sayyed and Brig. Gen. Raymond Azar, before the conclusion of investigations, The Daily Star said.

It said Mattar also cited Eid's "overly friendly relations" with the lawyers and families of the four officers charged with involvement in the Hariri assassination. They are, in addition to Sayyed, the former head of Lebanon's General Security Department, and Azar, former commander of the army's intelligence service, Brig. Gen. Ali Hajj, ex-commander of the Internal Security Forces, and Brig. Gen. Mostafa Hamdan, commander of the army Presidential Guard Brigade. Mattar said Eid's ability to continue with the case was further thrown into doubt after his recent admittance to hospital for stress reasons.

Judge Jihad al-Wadi, head of the Court of Appeals, on Thursday referred Mattar's request to the head of the 10th District, Judge Sami Mansour, who in turn informed Eid, the paper said. Eid will have to respond to the request – either by stepping down or by rejecting it -- within three days.

The follow-up committee of the Hezbollah-led opposition said the motion was a clear attempt to improperly influence a judge. Sayyed submitted a new memorandum to Eid Thursday through his lawyer Akram Azouri. The memorandum detailed what he referred to as "factors hindering justice" in the case. Sayyed demanded that Eid look into previously submitted requests that he be released from prison.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hezbollah's Nasrallah speech fuels tension in Lebanon
2007-04-11
Political tension escalated in Lebanon Monday as leaders of the parliamentary majority lashed at Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah accusing him of seeking to set up his own state in the multi-sect nation and defending assumed culprits in the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri.

The attacks came hours after a speech by Nasrallah in which he pledged a half century of Hezbollah influence, attacked the international tribunal that would try suspects in the 2005 Hariri assassination and related crimes and defended four generals jailed in connection with the crime. Democratic gathering leader Walid Jumblatt said Hezbollah's "weapons, arsenal, institutes and security zones are the main obstacles that prevent the creation of a strong state" in Lebanon. Nasrallah's rejection of the international tribunal, Jumblatt said, reflects efforts by Syria to "retain control of Lebanon's politics, constitution and institutions."
Nothing gets by Wally, does it?
He said Syria, which dominated Lebanon for nearly 30 years before withdrawing its troops in April 2005 after the Hariri assassination, "seeks to retain control of Lebanon through Hezbollah." He said Nasrallah was facing "a problem" because of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 which ended a 34-day war between the party and Israel last August. The resolution "prevents the Syrian and Iranian regimes from carrying out their maneuvers in the south Lebanon arena," he said in reference to Hezbollah which is banned by the U.N. measure from maintaining fighters in a 23-kilometer deep zone south of the Litani River.

Jumblatt also charged some Lebanese security agencies of "smuggling in hundreds of Iraqis from Syria."

"What is the aim of such a move? Does it aim at carrying out political assassinations or to carry out acts of sabotage?" Jumblatt asked.

Several MPs from the Parliamentary majority also accused Nasrallah of defending alleged culprits in the Hariri assassination and related crimes. The Hezbollah leader also was charged with sabotaging chances of a settlement to the ongoing Lebanese crisis. "Nasrallah announces the death of the (national) dialogue, ruling out civil war," the Daily al-Hayat wrote.

Nasrallah on Sunday said Hezbollah was no longer interested in a 19-11 formula, a reference to the number of ministers in a new national unity government. "If we were to choose between civil war and keeping the situation this way for a limited period of time, we prefer to continue with this state of affairs (stalemate)," he said.

Nasrallah attacked the international tribunal, saying it was designed to announce ready-made verdicts against certain suspects in the Hariri murder and related crimes.

Communications minister Marwan Hemadeh called Hezbollah speech a long list of failures by the opposition following the war with Israel. Hemadeh told LBC that the opposition failed badly in its attempt to bring down the government despite their protest and the sit- in in down town Beirut and the violence that accompanied all this. He said all this was a waste of time and didn’t yield any results for the opposition. Hemadeh repeated his call for dialogue, saying it is the only solution for Lebanon’s problems.

Al Mustaqbal newspaper, mouthpiece of MP Saad Hariri's political group that carries the same title, retorted on its front page that Nasrallah had "uncovered his mask and the hidden (truth) by rejecting the international tribunal … and by defending the suspects involved (in the Hariri killing), and labeling them political prisoners."

In a televised speech to 1,700 Hezbollah university graduates, Nasrallah said the four Lebanese generals jailed in connection with the Hariri crime were "political prisoners" in Lebanon. He was referring to former Director General of the Surete Generale's Security Department Gen. Jamil as-Sayyed, former commander of the Internal Security Forces Gen. Ali el-Hajj, former Presidential Guards commander Brig. Gen. Mustafa Hamdan and former director of army intelligence Raymond Azar. Nasrallah was also accused of trying to "control the whole of Lebanon for the interest of Syria and Iran."
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Jamil Sayyed interrogated for five hours
2006-02-22
Investigating Magistrate Elias Eid interrogated Jamil Sayyed, the arrested former chief of the Surete Generale, "for five-and-a-half hours Saturday," according to Lebanese judicial sources. Sayyed is one of four former top security chiefs who have been charged with planning, or executing the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri and of carrying out terrorist acts.

The four officers, Sayyed, Raymond Azar, former head of Army Intelligence, Ali Hajj, former head of the Internal Security Forces, and Mustafa Hamdan, former head of the Presidential Guards, have been questioned several times since their arrest last August. The sources added that Azar, Hajj and Hamdan will also be questioned "based on new information," without elaborating on what that information was. The four former security chiefs are currently detained in Roumieh prison awaiting trial, with Hamdan, Hajj and Azar's several petitions for release on bail denied by the Lebanese Judiciary.

Meanwhile, Serge Brammertz, the head of the UN probe investigating the assassination of Hariri, was flown by a helicopter to Lebanon's Southern borders where he met with Alain Pelligrini, the head of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon. According to Lebanon's National News Agency, "Brammertz discussed the position of the UNIFIL forces."

Brammertz is expected to head to Syria by the end of the month, as the international community has demanded that Syria offer full cooperation to the UN probe and present officials and citizens named by Brammertz for questioning. Brammertz is expected to present the UN with his first report on the case by mid-March. The sources speculated the report would contain information about the level of Syrian cooperation in the investigations.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Azar out of hospital, back in jug
2005-12-04
A former security chief detained in the investigation into former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination returned to prison Friday after two days in hospital for heart problems, a Lebanese security official said. Maj. Gen. Raymond Azar, the former chief of Lebanon's military intelligence who was rushed to hospital Wednesday, underwent a heart catheterization Thursday and was released Friday morning. He was taken back to the Roumieh prison in the suburbs of Beirut, where he has been confined since his arrest in August, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to journalists.

Azar is one of four Lebanese generals who were arrested on charges of being involved in the Feb. 14 assassination of Hariri. All the generals were pro-Syrian and had occupied senior positions in Lebanon's security agencies until being forced to step down in the outcry that followed Hariri's murder. They were detained on the recommendation of the U.N. commission investigating the assassination, which issued an interim report in October that implicated the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services. The Lebanese government praised the report, but Syria rejected it.
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