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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syria Issues Arrest Warrants against Leb Pols

2012-12-12

[An Nahar] Syria issued on Tuesday arrest warrants against former Prime Minister Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's liquidation. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. , Mustaqbal ... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri... MP Oqab Saqr, and Syrian opposition member Louay al-Meqdad. MTV said the arrest warrants were issued on charges of "arming and financing terrorist groups in Syria." According to information obtained by the TV network, the Syrian judiciary sent the warrants to the Damascus ...The capital of Iran's Syrian satrapy... -based criminal investigations office of the Arab Interior Ministers Council. The office in turn emailed the warrants to the Interpol office of Leb's Internal Security Forces which submitted them to Interior Minister Marwan Charbel. For his part, the minister informed State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr of the content of the warrants, MTV added. The development came a day after Judge Saqr requested the questioning of Syrian security chief Ali Mamlouk and a colonel identified only as Adnan as suspects in the case of former Minister Michel Samaha. He also summoned Buthaina Shaaban, Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... ... 's media adviser, to be questioned as a witness in the case. Samaha was tossed in the slammer Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! in August on charges of forming a criminal gang aimed at carrying out attacks in Leb at Syria's behest. Mamlouk and Syrian colonel Adnan have been also charged in the affair. OTV and al-Akhbar newspaper recently revealed that MP Saqr had been carrying out arms deals with Syrian opposition members, with the television station airing leaked recordings of conversations between the politician and Meqdad. MP Saqr last week gave a presser, accusing OTV and al-Akhbar of tampering with the audiotapes and saying that he will file a lawsuit against them. In October 2010, Syria ordered the arrest of 33 people over alleged false testimonies given in the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Leb, which is probing the liquidation of Lebanese former Premier Rafik Hariri. The Lebanese defendants include Internal Security Forces chief Ashraf Rifi, MP Marwan Hamadeh, former General Prosecutor Saeed Mirza and former Justice Minister Charles Rizk, as well as politicians, journalists and other Lebanese, Arab and foreign officials.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Rifi Says 16 Arab States Contest Syrian Arrest Warrants

2010-11-11

[An Nahar] Representatives of 16 Arab states meeting in Doha for an Interpol general assembly have contested the validity of 33 Syrian arrest warrants mostly against Lebanese, Leb's police chief said Wednesday. "I was the target of one of these arrest warrants, and I raised the issue at this meeting," Major General Ashraf Rifi, leading the Lebanese delegation in Doha, told Agence France Presse. "All the (Arab) representatives of their countries said they did not recognize the validity of the Syrian arrest warrants. "The participants agreed that the Syrian judiciary was not authorized to issue such arrest warrants against Lebanese and foreign nationals," he added. Rifi said the 16 Arab Interpol member states held a meeting chaired by the Saudi secretary general of the council of Arab interior ministers, Mohammed Ali Kuman. Syria did not attend the meeting. In October, Syria ordered the arrest of 33 people over alleged false testimonies given in the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Leb (STL), which is probing the liquidation of Lebanese ex-premier Rafik Hariri. The Lebanese defendants include Rifi, deputy Marwan Hamadeh, top prosecutor Saeed Mirza and former justice minister Charles Rizk as well as politicians, journalists and other Lebanese, Arab and foreign officials. Leb's cabinet was to hold a crucial meeting on Wednesday on the alleged false testimonies, as the STL is reportedly set to indict members of Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hizbullah in connection with the 2005 Hariri liquidation. Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has warned the court against any such accusation and said further cooperation with the tribunal would be tantamount to an attack on his powerful group. Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of the slain former prime minister, has vowed to see the U.N.-backed investigation through. Hariri had initially blamed Syria, formerly Leb's military and political powerbroker, for the liquidation but has dropped his accusation. Damascus has consistently denied any involvement.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Sayyed Warns of 'Political, Security Unrest' if Hizbullah was Indicted

2010-10-06

[An Nahar] Former head of Leb's General Security Department Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed warned of "political and security unrest" in the event the Special Tribunal for Leb indicted Hizbullah in the 2005 assassination of ex-PM Rafik Hariri. "If the indictment accused Hizbullah, this will change Leb," Sayyed said in an interview with the French newspaper, Liberation, adding that "power today is based on national consensus." "The system will collapse from top to bottom and this would lead to political and security unrest, and everything is likely to happened," he added. Hizbullah expects the STL to issue an indictment in December that is likely to accuse Hizbullah "unjustly" of involvement in Hariri's assassination. Hizbullah has demanded trial for those involved in the issue of false witnesses. Syria on Sunday ordered the arrest of 33 people over false testimony given in the UN-backed probe into Hariri's murder. Sayyed said the top investigating judge in Damascus had issued arrest warrants "against judges, security officers, politicians, journalists and other Lebanese, Arab and foreign officials and individuals." Among those named in the warrants is Detlev Mehlis, the German prosecutor who led the early stages of the UN investigation into Hariri's assassination in a massive bombing, Sayyed said in a weekend statement. The Lebanese defendants include police chief Gen. Ashraf Rifi, deputy Marwan Hamadeh, State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza and former justice minister Charles Rizk. Sayyed's office on Tuesday said the 33 arrest warrants do not include Judge Ralph Riachy and former Cabinet minister Bassem al-Sabaa. Sayyed has said arrest warrants could include Prime Minister Saad Hariri if he was found to be guilty in the false witnesses' case. "I'm convinced that the false witnesses' case is being steered by Hariri personally with his money and everything," Sayyed told Al-Jadid television. "During the investigation, police intelligence chief Wissam Hasan or State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza could testify that they brought the false witnesses to meet Hariri's desire," Sayyed said, "At this point, Hariri is likely to be included in the arrest warrants."

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Sayyed: Syrian Judiciary Has Issued 33 Arrest Warrants in Absentia in False Witnesses Case

2010-10-05

[An Nahar] Former head of General Security Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed has been informed by his lawyer in Syria that "the first investigating judge in Damascus has issued 33 arrest warrants in absentia in the false witnesses case for judges, officers, politicians, journalists and individuals of Lebanese, Arab and foreign nationalities," Sayyed's press office announced Sunday. Detlev Mehlis, former head of the U.N. commission investigating ex-PM Rafik Hariri's murder, and his aide Gerhard Lehmann are among the 33 people named by the Syrian warrants, Sayyed's press office noted. Leb's state-run National News Agency reported that the individuals whom arrest warrants have been issued for are: MP Marwan Hamade, ex-minister Charles Rizk; ex-MPs Bassem Sabaa and Elias Atallah; State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza; Judges Elias Eid and Saqr Saqr; Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi; Head of ISF's Intelligence Bureau Col. Wissam al-Hasan; Premier Saad Hariri's advisor Hani Hammoud; Col. Hussam al-Tannoukhi; Lt. Col. Samir Shehadeh; ambassador Johnny Abdou; former Syrian vice president Abdul Halim Khaddam; retired Col. Mohammed Farshoukh; Adnan al-Baba; Khaled Hammoud; journalists Hasan Sabra, Fares Khashan, Nuhad al-Ghaderi (Syrian), Abdul Salam Moussa, Ayman Sharrouf, Omar Harqous, Ahmed Jarallah (Kuwaiti), Zahra Badran, Nadim al-Munla, Hamid al-Gheriafi; former head of the U.N. commission investigating ex-PM Rafik Hariri's murder, Detlev Mehlis, and his aide Gerhard Lehmann; and witnesses Ibrahim Michel Jarjoura, Akram Shakib Murad, Mohammed Zuheir Siddiq and Abdul Baset Bani Audeh. On September 25, the Lebanese daily Ad Diyar reported that the Syrian judiciary was waiting for the appropriate time to send the warrants to its Lebanese counterpart. "If the Lebanese judiciary does not comply with the Syrian demand, then Syria will take the appropriate measures to have Interpol issue arrest warrants for those individuals," the newspaper added. Sayyed has accused international powers of standing behind claims that Hizbullah murdered ex-PM Rafik Hariri. "The game is bigger than (Premier) Saad Hariri. It is related to international schemes, starting from the new Middle East, which used Rafik Hariri's blood to strike Syria," Sayyed said in remarks published Sunday by the Syrian daily al-Watan. "But today, after failure of the plot, they moved to accuse the Resistance That'd be the Hezbullies, natch... seeking a new scheme based on creating a Sunni-Shiite strife to divert attention from the struggle against the Israeli enemy and transfer this conflict to one between Arabs and Mohammedans themselves instead of having Israel as their common enemy. " Sayyed said "some" surrounding Hariri from Leb and "a large portion" from outside the country convinced the prime minister that Syria and its allies in Leb are the ones who killed his father. "This is why he (Hariri) allowed, contributed to, turned a blind eye and supported a political, media, judicial and security structure of his advisers who chose Syrian false witnesses picked from Lebanese prisons, and provided them with temptations, particularly Zuhair Siddiq, Hussam Hussam and others, to accuse Syria and the four Lebanese officers (Sayyed one of them)," said the former detainee who was jailed for nearly four years in Leb for alleged involvement in Hariri's killing. "But soon after our release and the fall of the hypothesis that Syria is behind the killing, they shifted their accusation within a month from Syria to Hizbullah, and this is no coincidence, of course, where police intelligence under Col. Wissam al-Hasan began arresting Israeli spy networks immediately after the release of the four generals in April 2009." Sayyed said the Government of national unity agreed to finance the Special Tribunal for Leb "because we thought we were paying for justice and truth, not for an international tribunal looking for politics." "But we found out four years later that the international law used the money to hit Syria and a portion of Lebanese through the false witnesses," he said. Describing Druze leader Walid Jumblat as "unstable," Sayyed said he has no faith in the Progressive Socialist Party chief. "I don't believe everything Walid Jumblat says, whether he is with us or against us, because he changes his positions from one moment to another," Sayyed said.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syria demands 25 Lebanese to be tried in Damascus

2009-12-11

[Iran Press TV Latest] Lebanon says Syria has asked it to extradite 25 Lebanese officials to be tried in Damascus in connection with the murder of former premier Rafik al-Hariri. The extradition demand came after Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, the assassinated premier's son, said on Tuesday that he will visit Damascus, and hold talks with President Bashar al-Assad to discuss his father's assassination. Hariri's coalition, the March 14, accuses Syria and its Lebanese allies of being behind the assassination of Rafik al-Hariri in February 2005, a claim which Syria denies. Among those on the Syrian list include former ministers Marawan Hamadeh, Charles Rizk and Hasan al-Sabaa as well as State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza and the former head of Lebanon's military intelligence, Johnny Abdo, the Lebanese ministry of justice said on Thursday. The Lebanese judicial officials have described the Syrian demand as a "clear violation" of the law.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Former ambassador has a surprise for Lebanon on Hezbollah

2008-04-20

Former Lebanese ambassador and intelligence chief Johnny Abdo announced the upcoming release of "very serious information on Hezbollah incursions on the heart of Lebanese institutions," which he said he expected in two weeks' time. "This incursion began in communications and in northern Metn, small parts of the Shouf, and much of the North," he added. Abdo said whoever was to uncover the information was under the threat of assassination, confirming the appearance of a "state-within-the-state," or Hezbollah's zones and rights within Lebanon. In an interview with Radio Free Lebanon, Abdo said that Lebanon risked sudden security incidents. "If one of the important leaders is assassinated, it will be difficult to control the Lebanese arena, because assassinations begin and end with a decision." The person who exposes such information "faces the death threat," added Abdo, an ex-director of Lebanon's military intelligence. The former intelligence chief said he foresaw change in Syrian foreign policy, which he said was formulated by Speaker Nabih Berri. "If Army Commander General Michel Suleiman is no longer a compromise candidate, there remains no compromise or consensual candidates," he added. Abdo said Free Patriotic Movement leader General Michel Aoun was "embarrassed by his present, and to escape his present runs back to the past." Abdo said this was the reason Aoun "opened things better left unopened." On the disappearance of Muhammad Zuhair Al-Saddiq in France earlier this month, Abdo said the International Tribunal was the sole force which could determine whether the witness had given real or false testimonies. Saddiq resided in France, where he was under protection as the main witness to the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri in 2005. France has denied any role in his disappearance. Abdo recalled detained Major General Jamil Al-Sayyed's statement to Justice Minister Charles Rizk and George Bashir, a journalist, in which he had said that the slain Hariri and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Joumblatt would be joining Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea in prison.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Lebanon to dispatch its highest ranking judge to UN

2007-10-15

Justice Minister Charles Rizk said Saturday that Lebanon would dispatch its highest ranking judge to New York follow up with U.N. officials for the formation of the international tribunal. Rizk said senior Judge Antoine Kheir, who heads the highest Judicial Council, would leave for New York over the weekend to "coordinate" with U.N. legal officials the formation of the tribunal that will try the suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the related crimes. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced earlier in the week that he plans to appoint two judges and the UN legal chief to the panel that will select the judges and prosecutor for the international tribunal as per the UN Security Council resolution that authorized the establishment of the tribunal.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Lebanon uncovers secret Hezbollah phone network

2007-08-09

The Lebanese government disclosed that a secret underground telecommunications network has been set up by Hezbollah throughout south Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut. Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh revealed that the installation of underground cables, which run parallel to the state's phone system, had been "discovered by chance and following ample rumors" in the southern town of Zawtar al-Sharqieh in the Nabatiyeh district. Hamadeh said authorities would launch a "speedy" probe into the set up of a new phone line networking by Hizbullah in south Lebanon. Hamadeh said that Defense Minister Elias Murr, Justice Minister Charles Rizk and Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa will join in efforts to look into the matter immediately. "(The ministry) has discovered by chance that a new telephone network is being created along that of the state in Zawtar al-Sharqieh," Hamadeh said in a radio interview. He said that "technical reports" later showed that the work has expanded to reach Yohmor in east Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, with another wireless networking being set up between the port city of Tyre and Abbassieh as well as in other regions of the Tyre province. Hamadeh also uncovered similar works are underway in Beirut and the southern suburbs (Dahiyeh). During a cabinet session on Monday, the ministers discussed what Hamadeh termed a "violation of the Lebanese sovereignty" and called for setting up a ministerial committee to investigate and settle the issue. Meanwhile, residents of Zawtar Sharqieh issued a statement attacking the cabinet's move regarding their village. Given the vast influence of Hezbollah, the tone of the village residents sounds all too familiar. "Residents of Zawtar al-Sharqieh were surprised by the government's measures designed to sidetrack the citizens from the real crises they are facing," the statement said.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hariri Tribunal accords are now official Lebanon laws

2006-12-14

Charles Rizk, Minister of Justice revealed today to LBC - TV that the cabinet had only to confirm the previous accords on Hariri Tribunal and these are now officially enforceable laws. President Lahoud returned both accords to the government claiming it is not a legitimate cabinet since the Shiite ministers have resigned. Communications Minister Marwan Hamadeh described the presidential veto as "signing off on the murder of Hariri". The President, according to the parliament majority is illegitimate and a puppet of Syria's president Bashar el Assad and in vetoing the accords he is trying to protect the Syrian regime. That pretty well sums it up. Except for the part about protecting his own rump. PM Siniora has rejected all the resignations of the ministers. According to Siniora the cabinet had full quorum when it convened and took the decisions on both accords and the meetings were constitutional. Rizk said according to paragraph 52 of the Lebanese constitution both accords should now be published in the official Lebanese gazette as official laws. Rizk confirmed that it is now up to Speaker Nabih Berri to convene the parliament for a vote on these 2 accords. Rizk stressed that Berri is aware of the importance of this matter, but Berri seems in no hurry to convene the parliament, insisting that the issue of the unity cabinet should be resolved first. In commenting on Brammertz report on the murder of Hariri He said" this was a political crime ". He praised Brammertz for his professionalism and hard work. When asked about Brammertz recommendation for establishing the International tribunal, he agreed and added " and speaker Berri knows this too"

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Cabinet takes stand against Syrian warrant for Jumblatt

2006-05-26

Lebanon's Cabinet issued a statement in support of Walid Jumblatt on Wednesday in response to an arrest warrant against the MP by a Syrian military court that was relayed to Beirut via Interpol. The warrant demands that Jumblatt be brought before a Syrian military court to face questioning on charges of having slandered and incited hatred against Damascus. "The Cabinet asked Justice Minister Charles Rizk to prepare a study and present it to Parliament in order for the legislative body to issue a decision rejecting the warrants," Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said following the session. Cabinet's condemnation of the warrant was supported by all those present, including Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh, the only Shiite member on hand. Parliament is the only authority that can rule in relation to the warrant because Jumblatt has parliamentary immunity. Should it decide to reject the warrant, it will then be totally ineffective in practice. A source close to the judiciary said Parliament "will likely reject the [warrant] because Jumblatt has parliamentary immunity and because it is based on political reasons."

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

UN official holds talks on Hariri tribunal

2006-01-28

UN Undersecretary General for Legal Affairs Nicolas Michel said he "had fruitful consultations" with Lebanon's top officials on Friday, adding that he is "determined to inform [UN Secretary General Kofi] Annan immediately of their results." Michel, who arrived in Beirut Thursday, met Friday with President Emile Lahoud, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Speaker Nabih Berri, Justice Minister Charles Rizk and Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh to discuss the nature of the court that would try those accused of killing former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. According to a presidential statement issued Friday, Michel briefed Lahoud on the nature of his mission in Lebanon, saying he was assigned by Annan to confer with Lebanese officials on the nature of the court. After his meeting with Siniora, Michel, who was accompanied by a UN delegation, said: "The conversations today were especially rich and will help us steer our work in the next few days; but we have to say that our Lebanese friends will have to help us in steering this thinking in the next few days." He added: "I am determined to tell Annan immediately of the results of my consultations, and after that we will continue to think in all directions." Michel also said that he will respect the secrecy of the meetings and discussions. "All I can tell you is that the consultations will not be successful unless the Lebanese people - and not only its officials - consider that this consensus, [about the form of the court], relates to them," the UN official said.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

UN team to ask for more time in Hariri assassination probe

2005-10-03

The UN team investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri will be seeking to extend its term until December 15, according to Lebanese Premier Fouad Siniora. "I think [Mehlis] will take all the necessary measures so his mission continues until December 15, which was the period originally assigned to him by the Security Council," Siniora said Sunday. The international team's mission had been extended by the UN Security Council in August for 40 days, which will end on October 24. German Prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, the head of the UN investigation team, will be presenting his report on the outcome of his investigations to both the UN and the Lebanese government on October 21, as Lebanese Justice Minister Charles Rizk affirmed Sunday. According to Rizk, "Mehlis has informed me that he will present his report on October 21." UN Security Council Resolution 1595 gave the UN team an initial three month period to crack the case, renewable for another three months ending in mid-December. Sources close to the Lebanese judiciary told The Daily Star that Mehlis, who left the Beirut early Sunday morning with his senior aides for France, "will meet with Beirut MP Saad Hariri," son of the slain premier. Mehlis will be heading to Vienna after meeting with Hariri, where he will be writing his report but "will be back in Lebanon for few days sometime before October 21," according to the same sources. The report which Mehlis will present to the UN and Lebanese government this month was supposed to be his final report on the matter. Yet Rizk, who said that Mehlis "needs more time to work on the case," didn't see any problem with Mehlis presenting one report this month and a final one in December. Rizk called upon the press and the country not to speculate as to the contents of Mehlis' report, "which has not been written yet." Siniora also warned against speculation about the report, asserting "no one on planet earth" knows anything about its contents except for the investigating team. But according to German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung on Saturday, "the investigations will not directly implicate Syria as the chief suspect. The newspaper quoted a source close to the UN in Beirut as saying that the report "will not lead to the expected earthquake" in relations between Lebanon and Syria.

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