Evidence of Syrian involvement in Hariri murder: UN
By Masood Haider
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 21: A UN report said on Friday that there is “converging evidence” of both Syrian and Lebanese involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
The probe into the Feb 14 killing of Hariri led by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis has established “that many leads point directly towards Syrian security officials as being involved with the assassination,” according to the investigation report submitted to the UN Security Council.
Syria rejected the report, with Information Minister Mehdi Dakhlallah telling Al-Jazeera television it was “100 per cent politicized” and “contained false accusations”.
However, Friday morning at a press conference, Mr Mehlis denied that he had changed the report on the recommendation of the UN Secretary-General wherein names of Syrians officials were deleted.
Mr Mehlis in a separate statement asserted that he was not influenced by anyone to change the report and that he was under no pressure.
The New York Times in a report said that though the report did not include names, the diplomat said the investigators were focusing on Syria’s military intelligence chief, Asef Shawkat, the president’s brother-in-law.
“Their main lead is that he is the ringleader,” said the paper quoting an unnamed diplomat said. “This is where it is heading.”
“There is evidence in abundance,” the diplomat told the paper. “But to get every piece of the puzzle they need more time.” He spoke on condition of anonymity because of what he described as the extreme sensitivity of the matter.
Mr Shawkat is considered the second most powerful man in Syria and has been seen as a likely candidate to take over the country if the embattled Mr Assad were removed from office.
Because of this, it is now incumbent on Syria “to clarify a considerable part of the unresolved questions” facing investigators, the report said.
The Mehlis commission said its findings to date indicated that the truck bombing that killed Hariri and 20 others in the streets of Beirut was carried out by a group “with an extensive organization and considerable resources and capabilities.”
“The crime had been prepared over the course of several months,” it said.
Commenting on the report US Ambassador John Bolton said that UN inquiry into the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri had found Syria was linked to the killing and obstructed a probe into it.
Mr Bolton was consulting with fellow Security Council members on a wide range of possible responses, he said, but he would not say whether sanctions against Syria was among them.
