Ain-Al-Yaqeen - November 4, 2005

		November 4, 2005

MEHLIS'S REPORT DETAILS THE FACTS OF THE KILLING OF AL-HARIRI AND HIS COMPANIONS.
THE REPORT ACCUSES THE LEBANESE AND SYRIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTIGATION WILL CONTINUE UNTIL THE TRUTH IS UNVEILED.
CALLS FOR THE RESIGNATION OF PRESIDENT LAHOUD.
THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL REVIEWS THE REPORT.

The United Nations inquiry on the killing of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri concluded that Syria was involved in the killing of the former Lebanese Prime Minister.

The report by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, who led the four- month investigation, cited "converging evidence" that Syria and its Lebanese allies were behind the deadly February 14 bombing.

The decision "could not have been taken without the approval of top-ranking Syrian security officials and could not have been further organized without the collusion of their counterparts in the Lebanese security services," the report asserted.

It said the Beirut bombing, which also killed 22 other people, was carefully planned over several months to eliminate Rafiq Al-Hariri.

Syria, which held sway in Lebanon for 29 years until withdrawing its forces this spring, was widely accused of involvement in the killing.

Damascus strenuously denies the allegation, but Mehlis' report cited the joint infiltration of Lebanese institutions and society by Syrian and Lebanese intelligence. This, he said, makes it "difficult to envisage a scenario whereby such a complex assassination plot could have been carried out without their knowledge".

"There is converging evidence pointing to both Lebanese and Syrian involvement in this terrorist act," said the 54-page report, based on 400 interviews and a review of 60,000 pages of documents.

It gave a thorough rundown of the investigation, including interviews with Lebanese officials and a study of the street where Al-Hariri and innocent bystanders were killed.

A total of 30 seasoned criminal lawyers and investigators from 17 countries assisted Mehlis.

He urged the international community to continue helping the Lebanese government investigate the incident, which shook the government in Beirut.

The report by Mehlis became public after being presented earlier to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and then to members of the U.N. Security Council.

Hariri was killed about five months after the Security Council demanded that Syria withdraw its 15,000 military troops and intelligence agents from Lebanon. International pressure and threats after his death led Syria to carry out the withdrawal, which was completed in May.

Britain said it is talking with some council members, including the United States, about a resolution in which steps would be taken against Syria for its involvement in the Hariri murder.

Britain's U.N. ambassador said London was working with France and the United States on a new resolution to hold Syria accountable for meddling in Lebanese politics and for links to Hariri's killing.

The Lebanese government asked Annan to extend Mehlis' mandate until mid-December so he can complete the investigation and probably engage in other trails to find out who killed Hariri.

Mehlis said the Lebanese should look into possible leads such as bank accounts and the explosives used to kill Hariri. He said the investigation should continue "for some time to come."

A separate report to the Security Council will determine whether Syria has completely withdrawn from Lebanon, as demanded by the U.N.

Terje Roed-Larsen, a Norwegian diplomat, was asked to assess the withdrawal after reports that Syria still had intelligence agents or troops remaining in Lebanese after the May pullout.

The probe into the February 14 killing, led by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, named as suspects members in the inner circle of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and top pro-Syrian Lebanese officials, with suspicion cast even on President Emile Lahoud.

The report said the probe has established "that many leads point directly towards Syrian security officials as being involved with the assassination".

There was probable cause to believe the decision to kill Hariri "could not have been taken without the approval of top-ranked Syrian security official(s) and could not have been further organised without the collusion of their counterparts in the Lebanese security services", it said.

"Mehlis's report reveals the truth," said Al-Mustaqbal newspaper, owned by the late Hariri. "The truth: Syrian and Lebanese intelligence implicated in planning and executing the conspiracy to kill Hariri," An-Nahar daily's front-page headline said.

Hariri was a strong critic of Syria's domination of Lebanon, and many Lebanese have long suspected a link between his killing and the Syrian authorities and their Lebanese allies.

His murder along with those of 20 other people in a suicide truck bombing in a Beirut street sparked international outrage and Lebanese protests that led to Syria ending its 29-year military presence in the country.

Jibran Tueini, an anti-Syrian member of the Lebanese parliament, called on Lahoud to step down and accused Assad of ordering the murder. Assad insisted this week his country was "100 per cent innocent" in the case.

Washington is studying the report and would decide in a few days how to proceed, US Ambassador John Bolton said. "We've obviously considered various contingencies."

The report cited Ahmad Abdel-Al, a member of the Islamic militant Ahbash group in Lebanon with strong ties to Syrian authorities, as a key figure in the assassination plot, as he had used his mobile phone with "all the important figures in this investigation".

Abdel-Al's brother, Mahmoud Abdel-Al, "made a call minutes before the blast, at 1247 hrs" to President Lahoud's mobile phone.

The head of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon at the time, also appeared to have played a key role in the plot, according to the report.

The report presented similarly damning evidence on the four pro-Syrian Lebanese generals arrested and charged earlier in connection with Hariri's killing, on Mehlis' recommendation.

One witness approached investigators to say he had met one of the four, top Lahoud aide Brigadier General Mustapha Hamdan, commander of the Republican Guard Brigade, in October 2004.

Hamdan talked negatively about Hariri, accusing him of being pro-Israeli, the witness said. The general then ended the conversation by stating, "We are going to send him on a trip bye, bye Hariri," according to the report.

It said a Mitsubishi truck that may have been the one used in the bombing had been driven across the Syrian-Lebanese border by a Syrian colonel three weeks before the bombing.

The report said the Syrian authorities, after initially hesitating to help, had cooperated "to a limited degree". But several individuals had tried to mislead investigators "by giving false or inaccurate statements," it said.

Even a letter addressed to the commission by Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara "proved to contain false information", the report said. His deputy, also lied in a statement to investigators about what was said during a meeting with Hariri on February 1, it said.

In his conclusion Mehlis wrote that the "structure and organization of the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services in Lebanon at the time of the blast, including protocols for reporting, shows a pervasive impact on everyday life in Lebanon."

Mehlis, who listened to depositions of various officials including Hariri's son Beirut MP Saad Hariri, came to the conclusion that "the evidence collected by the Commission point to the possibility that Syrian officials were involved in the assassination of Mr. Hariri. When the Commission attempted to get the cooperation of the Syrian Government in pursuing these lines of the investigation, the Commission was met with cooperation in form, not substance."

He also noted the rocky relation between Hariri and Syrian officials.

In a rare insight of the life Hariri led before he was assassinated the report details the "permanent" monitoring that he was under, especially after his security was diminished by orders from his former bodyguard Hajj.

"At the beginning of January 2005, one of the high ranked officers told the witness that Rafiq Hariri was a big problem to Syria. Approximately a month later the officer told the witness that there soon would be an 'earthquake' that would re-write the history of Lebanon."

But the report clearly states that the four imprisoned Lebanese generals cooperated and plotted the murder, also naming the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command Ahmad Jibreel and former MP Nasser Kandil.

Mehlis concluded that the course of investigations should not stop there and that there should be a follow-up on the "investigation of the prepaid telephone cards."

According to him, "it is one of the most important leads in this investigation in terms of who was actually on the ground executing the assassination. This is a line of investigation that needs to be pursued thoroughly."

In its executive summary the report stated:

1. The Security Council, by its resolution 1595 of 7 April 2005, decided to establish an international independent investigation Commission based in Lebanon to assist the Lebanese authorities in their investigation of all aspects of the terrorist attack which took place on 14 February 2005 in Beirut that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and others, including to help identify its perpetrators, sponsors, organizers and accomplices.

2. The Secretary-General notified the Council that the Commission began its full operations with effect from 16 June 2005. The Commission was granted an extension to the initial period of investigation mandated by the Council, until 26 October 2005.

3. During the course of its investigation, the Commission received extensive support from the Government of Lebanon and benefited from expert inputs from a number of national and international entities.

4. The main lines of investigation of the Commission focused on the crime scene, technical aspects of the crime, analysis of telephone intercepts, the testimony of more than 500 witnesses and sources, as well as the institutional context in which the crime took place.

5. The full case file of the investigation was transmitted to the Lebanese authorities during October 2005.

6. The present report sets out the main lines of enquiry of the investigation conducted by the Commission, its observations thereon, and its conclusions, for the consideration of the Security Council. It also identifies those matters on which further investigation may be necessary.

7. It is the Commission's view that the assassination of 14 February 2005 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. For this purpose, the timing and location of Mr. Rafiq Hariri's movements had been monitored and the itineraries of his convoy recorded in detail.

8. Building on the findings of the Commission and Lebanese investigations to date and on the basis of the material and documentary evidence collected, and the leads pursued until now, there is converging evidence pointing at both Lebanese and Syrian involvement in this terrorist act. It is a well known fact that Syrian Military Intelligence had a pervasive presence in Lebanon at the least until the withdrawal of the Syrian forces pursuant to resolution 1559. The former senior security officials of Lebanon were their appointees. Given the infiltration of Lebanese institutions and society by the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services working in tandem, it would be difficult to envisage a scenario whereby such a complex assassination plot could have been carried out without their knowledge.

9. It is the Commission's conclusion that the continuing investigation should be carried forward by the appropriate Lebanese judicial and security authorities, who have proved during the investigation that with international assistance and support, they can move ahead and at times take the lead in an effective and professional manner. At the same time, the Lebanese authorities should look into all the case's ramifications including bank transactions. The 14 February explosion needs to be assessed clearly against the sequence of explosions which preceded and followed it, since there could be links between some, if not all, of them.

10. The Commission is therefore of the view that a sustained effort on the part of the international community to establish an assistance and cooperation platform together with the Lebanese authorities in the field of security and justice is essential. This will considerably boost the trust of the Lebanese people in their security system, while building self-confidence in their capabilities.

On the other hand the report was concluded with the following points:

202. It is the Commission's view that the assassination on 14 February 2005 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. For this purpose, the timing and location of Mr. Rafiq Hariri's movements had been monitored and the itineraries of his convoy recorded in detail.

203. Building on the findings of the Commission and Lebanese investigations to date and on the basis of the material and documentary evidence collected, and the leads pursued until now, there is converging evidence pointing at both Lebanese and Syrian involvement in this terrorist act. It is a well known fact that Syrian Military Intelligence had a pervasive presence in Lebanon at the least until the withdrawal of the Syrian forces pursuant to resolution 1559. The former senior security officials of Lebanon were their appointees. Given the infiltration of Lebanese institutions and society by the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services working in tandem, it would be difficult to envisage a scenario whereby such a complex assassination plot could have been carried out without their knowledge.

204. It is also the Commission's view that the context of the assassination of Mr. Hariri was one of extreme political polarization and tension. Accusations and counter accusations targeting mainly Mr. Hariri over the period preceding his assassination corroborate the Commission's conclusion that the likely motive of the assassination was political. However, since the crime was not the work of individuals but rather of a sophisticated group, it very much seems that fraud, corruption, and money-laundering could also have been motives for individuals to participate in the operation.

205. The Commission considers that the investigation must continue for some time to come. In the short time period of four months more than 400 persons have been interviewed, 60 000 documents reviewed, several suspects identified, and some main leads established. Yet, the investigation is not complete.

206. It is the Commission's conclusion that the continuing investigation should be carried forward by the appropriate Lebanese judicial and security authorities, who have proved during the investigation that with international assistance and support, they can move ahead and at times take the lead in an effective and professional manner. At the same time, the Lebanese authorities should look into all the case's ramifications including bank transactions. The 14 February explosion needs to be assessed clearly against the sequence of explosions, which preceded and followed it, since there could be links between some, if not all, of them.

207. The Commission is therefore of the view that, should the Lebanese authorities so wish it, a sustained effort on the part of the international community to establish an assistance and cooperation platform together with the Lebanese authorities in the field of security and justice is essential. This will considerably boost the trust of the Lebanese people in their security system, while building self-confidence in their capabilities.

208. The recent decision to proceed with new senior security appointments was hailed by all the Lebanese parties. It was an important step towards improving the integrity and credibility of the security apparatus. However, it took place after months of a security vacuum and extensive sectarian-political debate. Much needs to be done to overcome sectarian divisions, disentangle security from politics, and restructure the security apparatus to avoid parallel lines of reporting and duplication and to enhance accountability.

209. It is the Commission's conclusion that, after having interviewed witnesses and suspects in the Syrian Arab Republic and establishing that many leads point directly towards Syrian security officials as being involved with the assassination, it is incumbent upon Syria to clarify a considerable part of the unresolved questions. While the Syrian authorities, after initial hesitation, have cooperated to a limited degree with the Commission, several interviewees tried to mislead the investigation by giving false or inaccurate statements. The letter addressed to the Commission by the Foreign Minister of the Syrian Arab Republic proved to contain false information. The full picture of the assassination can only be reached through an extensive and credible investigation that would be conducted in an open and transparent manner to the full satisfaction of international scrutiny.

210. As a result of the Commission's investigation to date, a number of people have been arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder and related crimes in connection with the assassination of Mr. Hariri and twenty-two others. The Commission is of course of the view that all people, including those charged with serious crimes should be considered innocent until proven guilty following a fair trial.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed in letter addressed to the president of the UN Security Council his "intention to extend the mandate of the Commission until 15 December 2005 in accordance with paragraph 8 of resolution 1595 (2005)."

Annan explained: "During this period the Commission would continue its investigation of the crime and assist the Lebanese authorities to further the investigation. This extension was also requested by His Excellency, Mr. Fuad Siniora, the President of the Council of Ministers of the Lebanese Republic, in a letter to me dated 13 October." Mehlis also accused the Lebanese authorities of "negligence to undertake proper investigative measures and a full-scale professional crime scene examination immediately after the blast."

Meanwhile US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has described as "deeply troubling" a United Nations investigation that implicates Syrian officials in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and finds the Syrian government to be obstructing the inquiry.

The charges will lead the international community, particularly members of the Security Council, to "seriously consider how it will demand accountability," Rice said October 21 after what she described as an "initial reading" of the investigative report prepared for the United Nations by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis.

Rice made the comments in response to questions at a media briefing en route to a speaking engagement in her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, accompanied by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw of the United Kingdom.

The secretary said she would be discussing the question of how to move forward with Straw, whose government is a permanent Security Council member and currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union. She said she expected to undertake similar discussions swiftly with other foreign ministers, "particularly those who are on the Security Council."

Rice expanded upon those comments later October 21, reporting at a joint press briefing with Straw that President Bush had instructed her to seek a Security Council meeting on the issue, most likely at the ministerial level, as soon as possible.

In their conversation, held soon after Rice landed in Birmingham, Bush indicated that "there will have to be some way to ensure accountability for what has been found" in the Mehlis report, the secretary said.

Straw said he strongly agreed with the U.S. position and was "very glad that the president has proposed there should be this ministerial meeting of the Security Council."

"It is very disturbing, this report," Straw said at the earlier briefing. "It is further evidence of the extraordinary view that the Syrian elites have held for Lebanon, which is that they regard it as a subordinate territory and not as an independent state."

That "arrogance" appears to have led to "people very close to the top of the Syrian regime" being implicated in Hariri's murder, he added. Straw said the issue is "one that the international community is going to take very seriously, indeed."

Asked what form a prosecution might take, Rice said there have been "numerous meetings and discussions about what kind of mechanism might be used to bring people to justice."

While "there are, of course, limitations for the Lebanese," the secretary said, "the Lebanese have to be also very much involved in this process, even in the lead." The specific mechanism will require further discussions, she added.

There is time to consider this aspect because "Mehlis has made clear that he needs more time to fully pursue this investigation," suggesting that "this is going to continue, at least until December 15th," she said.

Rice noted that, at the same time, officials are awaiting a report on U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 "concerning compliance with the aftermath of the withdrawal of Syrian forces. So there's a lot on the table [and] the Security Council is going to have to be a focal point for it."

Regardless of specifics, she said, "Accountability is going to be very important for the international community. We cannot have the specter of one state of apparatus having participated or having been involved in the assassination of the former Prime Minister and soon to be candidate of another state."

Rice alluded to the issue again in a question-and-answer session after she delivered a speech at the Blackburn Institute at the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa.

"The United Nations Security Council has to take extremely seriously the report before it from Prosecutor Mehlis about the circumstances leading to the assassination of Rafiq Hariri and who it is likely has been implicated in that murder," she declared.

Rice said "there are some very important lessons for Syria and the need for Syria to respect a country the rest of us regard as independent."

Lahoud's office issued a statement "categorically" denying that assertion, saying "there is no truth to it." Since the arrest of four Lebanese generals in August, anti-Syrian groups have focused on Lahoud and demanded his resignation. Lahoud has refused to step down, saying his hands are clean.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora declined immediate comment on the report, saying he wanted to read it before convening Cabinet to discuss it.

US President George W. Bush called for urgent UN action in response to what he called the "deeply disturbing" report. Bush told reporters during a brief visit to Simi Valley, California, that he had instructed US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "to call upon the United Nations to convene a session as quickly as possible to deal with this very serious matter."

US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton said the UN report required a "strong follow-up" by the UN Security Council. Calling the report "historic", he said: "I don't think there is any doubt that this is going to require a strong follow-up by the Security Council. We are considering a range of options."

Syria's deputy foreign minister denied he had threatened former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri days before he was assassinated. As the United States and Britain called for a firm international stand against Syria in the wake of a UN report implicating Syrian officials in Hariri's murder, Lebanon arrested a man who had telephoned President Emile Lahoud minutes before the assassination.

"This is totally untrue," Walid Moallem, the Syrian deputy foreign minister, said, responding to the charges in the UN report. "I did not go to Premier Hariri to make threats. I went to him to inform him about my mission and ask him to cooperate in order for the mission to succeed," Moallem said during a call to a talk show on Syrian TV.

Mehlis report named Ahmad Jibril, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, General Command, and Ahmed Abdel Aal of the Al ahbash, an Islamic group as party to the murder of former PM Rafiq Hariri.

PFLP-GC said in a statement 'it was surprised' to see its name mentioned in Mehlis's U.N. report. It added 'There is no evidence whatsoever on the PFLP-GC`s involvement and no contacts were made by the international investigation commission with any member of our group,' the statement said. 'All that was said in the report about the PFLP-GC is totally untrue,' the statement added.

The Islamic group Al-Ahbash also denied accusations of involvement in the crime stressing in a statement that 'the group has no link whatsoever with this act and is keen more than ever to uncover the real truth.'

On the other hand the French Foreign Ministry Spokesperson issued the following statement:

Paris, October 21, 2005

We are now looking at the Mehlis report. On February 14, the day Rafic Hariri and his companions were assassinated, we had asked for an international inquiry to be conducted to determine the circumstances surrounding this tragedy and who was responsible before punishing the guilty.

UNSCR 1595, adopted unanimously and also a response to a request from the Lebanese authorities, set up this independent, international commission of inquiry led by Judge Mehlis.

We pay tribute to the independence, professionalism and impartiality of the commission and salute the substantial work it has done, in full cooperation with the Lebanese government.

We are studying very carefully the content of the report, which provides many elements allowing us to know the truth about this crime, which had aroused the horror, indignation and condemnation of all Lebanese and the international community.

From an initial analysis, the report concludes that this was a politically motivated crime perpetrated in the framework of a highly complex organization, which could not have been carried out without involvement of state and para-state structures.

The report notes the lack of cooperation by the Syrian authorities in the conduct of the inquiry.

The inquiry is not over, and we support the intention of the Secretary-General to extend the commission's mandate to December 15 in order to continue the investigations and help the Lebanese judicial authorities in this inquiry. It will be necessary for the international community to assist them in seeing this matter through, if the authorities of that country so request.

The full consequences of this report must now be examined.

We are going to continue consultations with our Security Council partners on the next steps.