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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Report: Fifth Suspect in Hariri Assassination Identified

2013-10-09

[An Nahar] A new suspect linked to the 2005 liquidation of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has been identified, reported the daily An Nahar on Tuesday. It said that the identity of the suspect was determined based on the initial findings of former United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... investigator in the case Detlev Mehlis. Mehlis' 2005 report on the murder said that a number of high-ranking Lebanese and Syrian officials were involved in the crime. He however did not name any of the officials. Hariri and 22 others were killed in a massive boom-mobile in Beirut on February 14, 2005. An indictment by the Special Tribunal for Leb investigating the crime accused four Hizbullah members of being involved in the attack. Hizbullah chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... has slammed the tribunal, saying that it an American-Israeli product bent on destroying the party. He vowed that the party will not cooperate with the STL and that the suspects will never be found.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Bellemare Requests Video Material from Nasrallah, Defends Staff 'Impartiality'

2011-07-05

[An Nahar] Special Tribunal for Leb Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare on Monday hit back at Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah over the latter's recent televised address in which he doubted the impartiality of the staff of Bellemare's office. "The staff of the OTP have been recruited on the basis of their professionalism, impartiality and expertise, and I have full confidence in their strong commitment to finding the truth," Bellemare said in a statement. "The Prosecutor welcomes Mr. Nasrallah's offer to provide the file that he stated he has on some elements of the investigation and requests the video material that was shown on television during his televised statement, as well as any other information and documents that would assist the Tribunal in its ongoing pursuit of justice," Bellemare added. He stressed that "the investigation is carried out according to the highest standards of international justice and its results are based solely on facts and credible evidence." "The staff of the OTP act independently and in good faith in their search for the truth," the prosecutor went on to say. "In seeking the release of the Four Generals in April 2009, the Prosecutor has already demonstrated that when he is not satisfied with the credibility or reliability of the evidence he will not hesitate to reject it," he added. Bellemare also stressed that he "will not engage in a public debate in the media about the credibility of his investigation or of the investigative process," noting that "the proper forum to challenge the investigation or the evidence gathered as a result, is in open court during a trial that will fully comply with international standards." "Justice is the guarantee of sustainable stability," the prosecutor added, calling for all steps to be taken to "bring the accused to justice." Nasrallah on Saturday ruled out the arrest of four members of his party indicted by the Special Tribunal for Leb for the 2005 liquidation of Lebanese former premier Rafik Hariri. In his first reaction to the charges by the STL, Nasrallah also rejected "each and every void accusation" made by the Netherlands-based court, which he said was heading for a trial in absentia. The STL on Thursday handed Leb's Prosecutor General Saeed Mirza arrest warrants for four members of Hizbullah in connection with the February 14, 2005 bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others in Beirut. Nasrallah went on to accuse top Sherlocks at the tribunal, including the first U.N. chief investigator, Detlev Mehlis, and his deputy, Gerhard Lehmann, of corruption. In elaborately edited segments, Al-Manar television aired footage which Nasrallah said showed Lehmann receiving a wad of cash in exchange for documents in the Hariri case. Al-Manar also aired a document which Nasrallah said proved Sherlocks had transferred IT equipment across Leb's southern border into Israel when it moved its staff to the Netherlands in 2009. "Do you expect this tribunal to be fair with resistance fighters who fought against Israel?" he said. "This tribunal, since the beginning, was formed for a clear political target."

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Attacks Targeting STL a Copy of Campaigns on Former Yugoslavia Tribunal

2010-10-27

[An Nahar] The third day of the International Media Forum organized by the Special Tribunal for Leb in The Hague has dropped the "conspiracy theory" which has long characterized Leb, sending those harmed by the Court to launch political and media campaigns targeting STL credibility and raising skepticism on the Court objectives. Media representatives have noticed through the round table held at the headquarters of the Foundation of International Information in The Hague, Netherlands, that attacks against the STL -- accusations and skepticism on its establishment and its goals -- are only a replica of the campaign against the Former Yugoslavia Tribunal. Common ground was found between the positions of those harmed by the Former Yugoslavia and Leb tribunals in discussions and exchange of information regarding challenges facing the media covering the work of the International Tribunal, from the standpoint of objectivity in combining between the legal mechanisms involving the investigative work and trials on one hand, and between the positions of political parties on the principle of international tribunals: 1 - Opponents of the Yugoslavia Tribunal who condemned a 1993 U.N. decision to set it up, argued that the Court aimed to divide the former Yugoslavia after the fall of Communism and the Soviet Union to weaken the new independent entities emerging to allow the United States to get hold of the region, just as some voices in Leb accused the U.S. of fragmenting the region via the Special Tribunal for Leb. 2- Opponents of the former Yugoslavia Tribunal believed upon its establishment that its work and the accusations it was going to issue would ignite sectarian strife between Mohammedans and Christians, which is what those Lebanese harmed by the Tribunal have been warning of. 3- Opponents of the Yugoslavia Tribunal considered that search for justice through the Court would lead to destabilization through multilateral war in an attempt to overthrow the court and prevent it from carrying out its work, which is actually what happened in the wars and battles of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro and others. In Leb, however, the equation of a choice between justice and stability is flourishing given that those who refuse and are harmed by the STL consider justice sought by the Court will destabilize Leb and push the country and the region into complicated wars. 4- During the phase of the investigation into war crimes in former Yugoslavia scathing personal campaigns against the General Prosecutor were launched to an extent of describing her as "a bitch." This scenario was repeated with international investigators particularly Detlev Mehlis, who was accused of using his job to ensure lavish spending and meet the invitations to banquets and night life in Beirut. Investigator Serge Brammertz and STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare also did not survive accusations. 5- Those harmed by the former Yugoslavia Tribunal work have accused investigators that they were working for the interests of American and international intelligence. The same scenario is repeated today with the probe into the liquidation of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri when those harmed by the STL have accused Tribunal managers of serving the interests of the United States and Israel. 6- Many during the foundation phase of the former Yugoslavia sought to torpedo the court through regional and international equations and many bet on efforts to try to persuade Russia, heir to the Soviet Union and as Greek Orthodox leader, to work to help bring down the court to protect some Serb leaders indicted for war crimes. But the attempts failed and the Court carried on. 7- Those with the upper hand in the former Yugoslavia tried to stop the International Tribunal, a scenario echoed by STL opponents in Leb in the hope that they would succeed in stopping it through withdrawal of recognition. But the STL carried on. 8- Former Yugoslavia Tribunal faced difficulties since its establishment as well as financial obstacles, but every time things end up ensuring continuation of its work. For example, budget for the first year of the former Yugoslavia Tribunal began at $270,000 to reach today an annual budget of $300 million. In short, all the accusations today against the Special Tribunal for Leb were previously launched against the former Yugoslavia Tribunal. And after more than 17 years of accusations against the Yugoslavia Tribunal, the Court still operates and has prosecuted Presidents, Cabinet ministers and military commanders, and continues to carry out the task that was entrusted to it via sessions -- between 4 and 5 sessions per week for a period between 6 and 8 hours a day.

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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

Syrian Judiciary Prepares Arrest Warrants against those being Sued by Sayyed

2010-09-26

[An Nahar] The Syrian judiciary is preparing arrest warrants against individuals former General Security chief Jamil al-Sayyed has filed lawsuits against, reported Ad Diyar on Saturday. It said that the judiciary is waiting for the appropriate time to send the warrant 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 against those individuals. The 14 individuals, who were mentioned during Sayyed's recent press conference, include former head of the U.N. commission investigating ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination Detlev Mehlis and former minister Marwan Hamadeh.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hizbullah Gunmen Escort Sayyed from Airport Runway in Move Described as 'Invasion' of the Facility

2010-09-20

[An Nahar] Vehicles with Hizbullah gunnies inside have reportedly welcomed former General Security Department chief Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed at a tarmac at Beirut airport and took him to the VIP lounge that he used without a previous permit from the foreign ministry, in what was described as "an invasion of the airport." An Nahar newspaper said Sunday that following a press conference at the lounge during which he unleashed his rage on several officials, Hizbullah took private security measures to escort Sayyed to his home in Beirut's Jnah neighborhood. According to the daily, no one asked the foreign ministry to open the lounge which is usually earmarked for cabinet ministers, MPs and high-level state employees if they were tasked with carrying out missions abroad. Head of Hizbullah's Security and Liaison Committee, Wafiq Safa, and his bodyguards were inside one of the vehicles which took Sayyed from the runway to the VIP lounge and then to this home, An Nahar said. Sayyed arrived in Beirut from Paris on Saturday afternoon. During his press conference at the lounge, the former security chief launched a vehement attack against Prime Minister Saad Hariri, State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza, Police Chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi and Detlev Mehlis, former head of the U.N. investigation into the assassination of ex-PM Rafik Hariri.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Oqab Saqr Hits Back at Sayyed: He Tried to Blackmail Hariri for $15 Million

2010-09-14

[An Nahar] MP Oqab Saqr hit back at former head of the General Security Department Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed, accusing him of trying to blackmail Prime Minister Saad Hariri over cash-for dropping case. He said Sayyed dispatched a "person" to Hariri asking for $15 million in return for giving up his case. Saqr, in remarks published Monday, said the meeting was attended -- besides Hariri and the mediator -- by five other people. He said when Hariri rejected Sayyed's offer, the envoy returned to reduce the blackmail by half. "That person came back asking for $7.5 million. But Hariri, again, told him "I reject this kind of cheap settlement,'" Saqr said. Sayyed, who was placed in temporary detention in Lebanon in 2005 for his alleged involvement in Hariri's assassination and released in 2009 due to lack of evidence, has asked the STL to release his secret case file on the 2005 assassination to learn why he had been jailed for nearly four years without charge. Saqr said Sayyed offended Syria and distorted the truth for personal gains. "He (Sayyed) is a false witness," Saqr claimed, adding that the former officer's accusations will have no impact on the internal truce in Lebanon. Saqr was responding to Sayyed, who held a press conference on Sunday to discuss the issue of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and Hariri's stance on the so-called "false witnesses" case. Sayyed's "claims are empty because he has lost some of his memory and his psychological state is worsening," Saqr said. Sayyed is "currently trying to transform his personal problem into a public crisis," added Saqr, who is a member of the Hariri-led Lebanon First parliamentary bloc. Saqr ruled out that Sayyed's remarks had "any political significance," saying that he did not believe that "these remarks reflect the stances of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah." "Jamil Sayyed is suffering a complicated mental state and a certain psychological condition after the man lost his authority to find himself now outside power," Saqr said, calling on Sayyed "to solve his psychological problem, but not at the expense of the honorable Lebanese and their dignities." Saqr stressed that the Lebanese Judiciary must deal with Sayyed's remarks, "especially comments against judges and death threats against some Lebanese (political) leaders and public officials." "Jamil Sayyed in a pillar of corruption," Saqr concluded. "Corruption became clear, including Sayyed's palace, which he boasts that it even appears on Google Earth," Saqr uncovered. "Sayyed built his palace on the skulls of many Lebanese who were humiliated, robbed of their money and probably killed," he added. "If there were a State in Lebanon, Sayyed would have been put in jail a long time ago," before Hariri's 2005 assassination "in cases that were proven against him," Saqr stated. Sayyed on Sunday attacked Hariri, accusing him of being behind false witnesses in Hariri's assassination. Sayyed said Hariri along with his "political, media, judicial and security team" joined forces with former head of the U.N. investigation committee Detlev Mehlis to use the murder as a plot aimed against Syria and to grab power in Lebanon. "That is why we see Saad Hariri desperate to defend false witnesses and stand against holding them accountable; because if they fall, this authority will fall from top to bottom," Sayyed said He even threatened to take justice into his own hands if Hariri did not act to put false witnesses on trial. "I vow upon my honor that if you (Hariri) do not give me my right, I will take it with my own hands some day," Sayyed vowed. "Jail me," he said, calling on Hariri to undertake a polygraph lie detector test to prove that he did not support or fund false witnesses..

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

UN Hariri tribunal begins 3D crime scene filming

2010-03-24

[Al Arabiya Latest] A U.N. team investigating the assassination of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri on Tuesday began filming the site of the 2005 Beirut murder in three dimensions, a U.N. spokeswoman said. It has been five years. Detlev Mehlis had the case cracked in about 90 days. They've been treading water and throwing dust ever since. "We are undertaking an actual 3D modeling of the Hariri crime scene to reconstruction the scene and whatever happened there using digital scanning techniques," spokeswoman Radhia Achouri told AFP. A U.N. tribunal based in The Hague was set up by a Security Council resolution in 2007 to try suspects in the murder of Hariri, killed in a massive bomb blast on the Beirut seafront in February 2005. Achouri, the tribunal's spokeswoman, said the filming would be finalized within 10 days but denied it was linked to recent progress in the investigation. "It is happening now because it is possible and has nothing to do with the actual progress of the investigation for the time being," she said. "It was an issue of establishing the need. We deemed it necessary and can now afford to do it physically and in terms of resources," Achouri added. An AFP photographer at the scene said members of the U.N. team wearing identity cards around their necks were filming and photographing the assassination site outside the once popular Saint Georges Hotel. Before the tribunal was set up, a U.N. commission of inquiry said it had found evidence to implicate Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services in the Hariri murder, but there are currently no suspects in custody.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syria urges probe of former Hariri investigator

2009-09-18

[Al Arabiya Latest] Syria has asked the United Nations to launch an inquiry into what it says was an attempt by a former U.N. investigator to implicate Damascus in the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. A letter from Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem, made available to reporters on Thursday, also said Damascus reserved the right to take legal action of its own against the prosecutor, Detlev Mehlis, and his assistant, Gerhard Lehmann. Mehlis was appointed to head a U.N. inquiry, requested by Lebanon, into the February 2005 death of Hariri and 22 others in a Beirut car bombing. Mehlis, a German, left the job in early 2006, and the post has since changed hands twice. In an October 2005 report, Mehlis said there was "converging evidence pointing at both Lebanese and Syrian involvement in this terrorist act," which could not have been carried out without the knowledge of Lebanese and Syrian intelligence. Syria denied responsibility, but the killing caused a worldwide outcry that forced an end to Syria's 29-year military presence in Lebanon. Moualem said interviews given by one of four Lebanese officers held for nearly four years by Lebanese authorities over the killing before being released without charge in April showed Mehlis' anti-Syrian bias.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hezbollah denies report about Hariri assassination

2009-05-25

Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group denied a report by a German magazine linking it to the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, saying Sunday that it was an attempt to tarnish its image before parliamentary elections. Saturday's report in the weekly Der Spiegel came at a time of rising tensions before the crucial June 7 elections, which could result in the Western-backed government being ousted by a Hezbollah-led coalition supported by Syria and Iran. Hezbollah said the Der Spiegel report was based on "fabrications." Hariri's assassination has deeply divided the country. His supporters blamed Syria for the killing, a charge Damascus denies, but no one had ever accused Hezbollah of being involved. A Hezbollah legislator dismissed the Der Spiegel report as "a big lie." "We are waiting for the international tribunal to react and to see where the German magazine got its information from," Nawar Saheli told The Associated Press Sunday. The group also indirectly accused Israel, saying it believed those who gave the magazine its information sought to draw attention away from Lebanon's recent arrests of people suspected of spying on Hezbollah for Israel. Der Spiegel said in its Saturday report, which it said was based on sources close to the tribunal and verified by internal documents, that the investigation had reached the conclusion about Hezbollah's involvement about a month ago. The report said that the assassins used eight cellular telephones bought on the same day in the northern city of Tripoli. One of them made the mistake of calling his girlfriend with one of the phones, revealing his identity. The report also linked the explosives and the truck used in the attack to the Shiite militant group. Last month, four Lebanese generals were released by the tribunal. They had been the only suspects in custody. "The magazine's accusations are police fabrications made in the same black rooms that fabricated similar stories about the Syrians and the four generals," Hezbollah's statement said. Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, a critic of Hezbollah, refused to comment on the report's allegations. "We want justice. We don't give weight to any words said here or there," Saniora told Al-Arabiya TV. "We have put trust in the tribunal and we don't care to what the newspapers say." After reading the Der Spiegel report, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called for the arrest of Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. "If this is the conclusion of the investigators an international arrest warrant must be issued immediately against Nasrallah," he said. Four years ago, U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis said the complexity of the assassination plot suggested a role by Syrian intelligence services and its pro-Syrian Lebanese counterpart. During a news conference in Beirut, Mehlis had said Hezbollah was not involved in Hariri's assassination. 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.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Tribunal to Focus on Damascus as Mehlis Says Arrest of Generals Not Only Based on Siddiq Testimony

2009-05-09

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon will turn its eye on Damascus following the release of the four generals, European sources said, as former chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis said his recommendation to arrest the former security chiefs was based on the testimony of king witness Zuhair Siddiq as well as others. Mehlis said the U.N. commission investigating ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's murder had recommended the arrest of the four generals and it would have retracted its order had it been mistaken. Mehlis told al-Mustaqbal daily that when he quit as head of the commission, the provisional arrest of the generals was legal under Lebanese, German and French law. He stressed that at that time he thought the probe would need only one more year. He told al-Mustaqbal that he would have sent the file to the court if he had enough evidence and if not, he would have announced that finding the truth is impossible. "Had the investigation been on the right track, it would have been over long time ago," the former head of the U.N. panel said. He told the newspaper that his recommendation to arrest the four generals wasn't only based on the testimony of witness Mohammed Zuhair Siddiq. Mehlis said he recommended the arrests after hearing the testimonies of several witnesses including Gen. H. and another person to whom one of the released officers, Gen. Mustafa Hamdan, had said there is an intention to send Hariri on a "trip." Mehlis said that the commission had asked Syria for information on a possible Israeli involvement in Hariri's assassination but Damascus did not cooperate on the matter. The panel, according to Mehlis, also ruled out the involvement of fundamentalists in the former premier's murder. Sources involved in the investigation into Hariri's assassination informed official Western and European parties that the court will continue its work because the commission investigating the former premier's killing has enough evidence and information to find the truth. The sources stressed that the tribunal's judges are committed to the Lebanese and the international community to hold accountable and punish the culprits. An Nahar quoted the Western and European officials as saying the release of the generals will support international efforts to push Syrian President Bashar Assad to cooperate with the tribunal and comply with its demands, including the interrogation of Syrian witnesses or accused persons when needed. Well-informed diplomatic sources in Paris said "the next strike by the court after the release of the generals will be in Damascus because the Hariri case is of significance to Syria more than any other country outside Lebanon." Meanwhile, Lebanese authorities informed pre-trial judge Daniel Fransen that they are implementing his decision to protect the generals, including taking security measures and putting guards to protect them and their property.

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