Sentinelle - Audition de cinq responsables syriens à Vienne, 4 décembre 2005

Sentinelle - Audition de cinq responsables syriens à Vienne, 4 décembre 2005

Sabrina RAHMANI

Le 25 novembre 2005, M. Detlev Mehlis, chef de la commission d’enquête sur l’assassinat de l’ex-premier ministre libanais Rafic Hariri, a confirmé qu’un accord a été trouvé avec les autorités syriennes afin de mener les interrogatoires de cinq responsables syriens au siège de l’ONU à Vienne. Pour le chef du gouvernement libanais, M. Fouad Siniora, cet accord est positif. Concernant les dates des interrogatoires, celles-ci seront fixées à la suite de contacts à venir avec la Commission d’enquête Les Nations Unies ont confirmé cet accord et M. Mehlis en a informé le Secrétaire général de l’ONU, M. Kofi Anan

Lors d’une conférence de presse, le vice-ministre syrien des affaires étrangères, M. Walid Mouallem, a déclaré que « la direction syrienne avait décidé d’accepter que les cinq syriens soient interrogées au bureau de l’ONU à Vienne, comme l’avait proposé la commission d’enquête internationale ».Il a déclaré que cet accord est un compromis. M. Mehlis l'avait proposé au conseiller juridique du ministère syrien des Affaires étrangères, M. Riad Daoudi lors de leur rencontre le 18 novembre à Barcelone, en Espagne. Il a ajouté que cet accord était le résultat de négociation avec la commission après que Damas ait obtenu des garanties sur le respect de sa souveraineté. Il a aussi précisé qu’aux termes de l’accord, les cinq responsables syriens,dont ils refusent de donner l’identité au nom du secret de l’instruction, seront accompagnés de représentants légaux et regagneront Damas après avoir été interrogés dans la capitale autrichienne.

Toutefois, afin d’avoir la possibilité de faire arrêter les suspects, M. Mehlis avait insisté pour pouvoir interroger les six responsables syriens au Liban, mais Damas s’y opposait .Les autorités syriennes avaient tout tenté pour que l’audition des responsables syriens se fasse à leurs conditions. Pour refuser que les témoins soient entendus au siège de la Commission d’enquête, dans la banlieue de Beyrouth, comme l’exigeait M. Mehlis, elles ont invoqué des questions de dignité ainsi que l’intérêt du Liban et de la Syrie. Elles ont proposé des locaux de l’ONU à Damas, ou de la force de l’ONU pour l’observation du désengagement sur le Golan, le siège de la ligue arabe. Elles aussi demandé la négociation d’un protocole de coopération juridique entre leur Commission d’enquête et la Commission internationale. Finalement, des négociations ont été engagées pour que les interrogatoires soient effectués en terrain neutre.

De plus, la Syrie avait demandé que les suspects soient interrogés sur son territoire et en présences de leurs avocats, dans un projet de protocole présente à l’ONU. Ce projet préconisait que les enquêteurs de l’ONU partagent leurs conclusions avec la commission d’investigation syrienne. Mais ces conditions ont été jugées inacceptables par le magistrat allemand, M Mehlis et plusieurs Etats membres du Conseil de sécurité. M. Kofi Anan, a rejeté aussi la demande du chef de la diplomatie syrienne, le sollicitant à intervenir auprès de M. Mehlis et de contribuer à négocier un protocole de négociations.

Par ailleurs, cet accord entre Damas et l’ONU sur le choix de Vienne comme lieu d’interrogatoires des responsables syriens, intervient presque un mois après que le Conseil de sécurité ait adopté, le 31 octobre 2005, la résolution 1636 demandant à la Syrie de coopérer dans l’enquête internationale et prévoyant des sanctions individuelles contre les suspects. La résolution demandait aussi à la Syrie d’arrêter les responsables syriens ou toute personne soupçonnée d’être impliquée dans l’assassinat, et de les mettre pleinement à la disposition de la Commission. Ce déblocage survient aussi 20 jours avant l’expiration du mandat de la Commission d’enquête internationale, prévue le 15 décembre 2005, date à laquelle M. Mehlis doit rendre son rapport au Conseil de sécurité des Nations Unies.

The Security Council Resolution on Syria Is a Pretext for the Bombing and Occupation of Syria ; The Resolution Is in Violation of the UN Charter

Center for Research on Globalization - The Security Council Resolution on Syria Is a Pretext for the Bombing and Occupation of Syria ; The Resolution Is in Violation of the UN Charter, November 2, 2005

By Niloufer Bhagwat
Rafik Harari died in a manner which anyone who has humanity would not want any individual to die, and it is conceded he was a former Prime Minister. Does that justify an investigation by the Secretary General of the United Nations and a Resolution by the Security Council, when the pogroms committed by the Phalangists and Israel army in conspiracy with General Aaron Sharon have never been investigated, even though it took place during an international conflict and the occupation of Lebanon. Are the lives of the Palestinian refugees who were brualy killed, raped, mutilated any less important than that of Rafik Hariri and which provision of the UN Charter says so? The world has witnessed the killings by bomb blasts of Indian citizens from 1993 including in Kashmir, Delhi, Mumbai in scores of places with a death toll of thousands of citizens killed and maimed by covert agencies in India. The bombings mysteriously coincided invariably with some sharpening crisis of some nature or the other or of impending pogroms against minorities or other sections. Yet UN probe was never ordered and there is no resolution of the Security Council on bomb blasts in India, the Philippines or Indonesia. Recently no less a person than a former Minister of Indonesia has claimed that the Indonesian military had covert links with those perpetrating the blasts at Bali. Earlier, junior military officers in the Philippines had made similar allegations against some of the highest in the political leadership of their country. The United Nations Charter explicitly and implicitly prohibits interference in the internal affairs and criminal investigations in any country, the only exception possible would be War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity as defined by the Nuremberg principles perpetrated by any government, including the permanent members of the Security Council. Apart from this exception the sovereignty of every nation, society or people is guaranteed by the UN Charter and no country in the conduct of its criminal investigation can be influenced or pressurized by the permanent or elected members of the Security Council without this constituting an undue interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation. To illustrate the diabolical nature of the double standards the series of covert political assassinations carried out by some of the permanent and other governments in the Security Council have been open knowledge the world over. The assassination of President Allende in Chile is one example, where the UN and all the members of the Security Council continued to deal with the murderous Pinochet regime. The same General Pinochet is now indicted for receiving funds and other largesse from American Banks and other financial institutions claiming age in defence. The role of Henry Kissinger in that assassination was carefully documented by impeccable American sources, and yet neither has Henry Kissinger been indicted nor anyone associated with the conspiracy to murder the innocent and install in Chile a government favorable to US - UK Corporations and finance capital. In India two Prime Ministers were brually assassinated. Indira Gandhi in 1984 while in office and Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, while leader of the opposition was killed by a suicide bomber mid way through an election , an act of covert agencies and terrorist organizations acting in a covert conspiracy . The Inquiry Commission inquiring into the assassination has held that it is necessary to further investigate the conspiracy and conspirators behind the suicide bomber as these have not been unmasked. Prior to the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi a leading member of a terrorist organization sheltered in the UK announced on BBC that Mrs.Indira Gandhi should be killed. Neither the Secretary General of the United Nations nor the Security Council directed an investigation into the International conspiracy to assassinate Mrs Indira Gandhi despite prima facie evidence on record that the funds and training were being received by these covert organizations from the UK and across the Atlantic. Similarly it cannot be forgotten that an urgent message was sent to the late Rajiv Gandhi by the late Yasser Arafat that there was a covert plot to assassinate him, which came to pass. The fact that Yasser Arafat communicated the existence of this covert conspiracy would reveal that Mossad could not be very far from this plot, as a former Mossad agent has admitted in a controversial book that more than one side to the fratricide in Sri Lanka were trained by Mossad in Israel including sections of the LTTE .We have the example of the Kanishka aircraft which was bombed with hundreds of Indian and other passengers on board killed with the failure of Canadian Intelligence to conduct a public inquiry or to indict covert organizations being funded and operated from Canada, with a highly compromised trial satisfying none of the surviving relatives as comprehensive and thorough; yet the Security Council of the United Nations despite the hundreds of lives lost did not indict the government of Canada and put it on notice that those responsible must be proceeded against in the alternative Canada could be subjected to sanctions . Can one Rafiq Harari whose assassination however brutal be given greater primacy over the murder of hundreds and thousands of citizens in covert International and national incidents which the UN Security Council has never cared to investigate even though when they have taken place across international boundaries as in the Kanishka crash, during wars of occupation as in the case of Sabra and Chatilla , in Kashmir and those killed in coups and counter coups by external forces in Latin America and other places . No inquiry has taken place as to how Ahmed Shah Massood of the Nothern Alliance was murdered in Afghanistan two days before 9/11. An innocent Brazilian was recently murdered by the police in England and there has been no Resolution on the UK by the Security Council and no international investigation by a prosecutor into the suspicious London bomb blasts and no possibility of sanctions against the UK, India, Indonesia, Philippines or other countries where scoresof innocent citizens are being killed by bomb blasts. The 9/11 tragedy remains a mystery with no UN investigation and no Security Council Resolution though thousands died in one incident alone and we are now informed of "Able Danger " and the implications of the controlled demolitions of the towers by explosives and not by aircraft. For the last few years since 1993 in tandem with the neoliberal globalization program imposing a creeping economic death sentence on several classes of Indian society including weavers, peasants, workers, petty traders, bomb blasts have been occurring in different cities of the Indian Union on ordinarly citizens with covert agencies operating, leaving thousands killed and maimed including Kashmiris in the State of Jammu and Kashmir including sections of the middle classes and working people in Mumbai , New Delhi , Tamil Nad, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, among other cities . Despite the fact that this discloses a complete and abject failure of more than one national party in power at the Centre and in the States where the bomb blasts have taken place the Security Council has not appointed an international inquiry to protect the lives of the Indian people against these covert attacks from allegedly terrorist organizations operating from inside India or from outside India and not a single government has resigned acknowledging responsibility in not being able to secure the right to life of the citizen of India a basic function of government. The propoganda systems national and International have broked down, no one believes the Goebelsian news reports, the Security Council and IAEA are seen to be aiding and abetting invasions and occupations. Even war can no longer camouflage the civlizational collapse when it is necessary to kill innocent men, women and children for systems to survive. On the murder of Rafiq Hariri the central question asked in any crime is a simple one:" Who benefits?" The answer is that the murder of Rafiq Hariri benefits those corporations controlling governments who desire to militarily invade yet another country of the region vital for control of hydrocarbon resources and pipelines and for that purpose secured withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon a country which was radically severed from Syria by the elite classes of the big powers, in what has been the " Great Game " of redrawing artificially the maps of countries and societies in the age of Imperialism and now in its new camouflage neoliberal globalization in the tradition of Cecil Rhodes who recommended colonization as a policy to prevent revolution at home in societies increasingly polarized. For governments like Syria who attempted for decades to comply with various and diverse requests of the Imperial powers, there is a lesson, which is no one is spared not even yesterday's ally. Despite tight rope walking every single leader, the government and its members are dispensable in a brutal game which recognizes no one and makes not a single concession to humanity. Many leaders erstwhile friends and allies of the US-UK corporations will follow Saddam Hussain either to trial or to the grave including those who collaborated in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, former Yugoslavia, Iran, Pakistan, India and anywhere else... All the perfumes of Arabia cannot cleanse this blood of innocent humanity.

UN: Security Council Adopts Resolution Demanding Syrian Cooperation In Hariri Probe

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty - UN: Security Council Adopts Resolution Demanding Syrian Cooperation In Hariri Probe, October 31, 2005

By Robert McMahon
The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution demanding Syria's full cooperation with a United Nations investigation into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. The measure threatens "further action" against Syria in the event of noncompliance, which is weaker than initial language warning of sanctions. But sponsors of the measure say it shows Syria's increasing isolation. The Security Council resolution passed today calls on Syria to cooperate unconditionally with the UN investigation into Rafiq Hariri's killing in February. The measure says Syrian leaders must take into custody and make available to UN investigators suspects in the killing. This places pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad because UN investigators want to question his brother and brother-in-law in the case. The unanimous vote by the 15-member council in New York included the participation of 12 foreign-minister-level officials. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the Security Council the resolution should signal to Syria the gravity of its situation. "With our decision today we show that Syria has isolated itself from the international community through its false statements, its support for terrorism, its interference in the affairs of its neighbors and its destabilizing behavior in the Middle East. Now the Syrian government needs to make a strategic decision to fundamentally change its behavior," Rice said. The United States, Great Britain, and France, which sponsored the resolution, removed language threatening Syria with possible sanctions if it failed to cooperate. The softer language was urged by permanent council members China and Russia. The council action follows a report by a UN investigating commission, led by Detlev Mehlis of Germany, which implicated top Syrian and Lebanese officials in Hariri's killing. Syria has strongly denied the charges. The UN resolution on Syria supports travel bans and a freeze in the assets of Lebanese and Syrian officials and any other individuals who are declared suspects in Hariri's killing. The text does not invoke the UN Charter's Article 41, which allows economic embargoes to be imposed on countries or their national institutions. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw warned that the Security Council will pursue further moves in the event of noncompliance. "We are also, correctly, putting the government of Syria on notice that our patience has limits," he said. "Failure to cooperate fully and now will oblige us to consider further actions to ensure that the Security Council, through the commission [investigating Hariri's assassination], can play its part in the Lebanese government's determination to see justice done." Romanian Foreign Minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu, whose country currently holds the presidency of the council, told reporters action was necessary to contain a potentially volatile situation in Lebanon. "For the time being with a Lebanon that's been weakened, with the situation in Iraq, with the recent political developments in Iran, with the ongoing peace process in the Near East, a tough message that will address the circumstances that have produced a political assassination [is] very timely," Ungureanu said. Syrian media earlier today criticized the resolution as too heavily influenced by the United States. But President al-Assad has ordered the formation of a judicial committee to cooperate with the UN investigation and Lebanese judicial officials.

Bush Threatens Sanctions, Even Force, against Syria

Los Angeles Times - Bush Threatens Sanctions, Even Force, against Syria, October 26, 2005

By Maggie Farley
International pressure on Syria mounted Tuesday as the United States, France and Britain introduced a Security Council resolution threatening to consider sanctions if the country does not cooperate with a probe into the assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri. President Bush said he had not ruled out military action if Syria does not comply. Bush told Dubai-based television network Al-Arabiya that he preferred a diplomatic solution to what he views as Syria's persistent efforts to destabilize the Middle East, including possible involvement in Hariri's assassination. But when asked what the United States would do if Syria did not change its policies, he said: ``We're going to use our military. It is the last, very last option. No commander in chief likes to commit the military, and I don't. But on the other hand, you know, I have worked hard for diplomacy and I will continue to work the diplomatic angle on this issue.''
Bush's comments were echoed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who said the United States had not eliminated any options regarding Syria. But the saber-rattling was seen by diplomats at the United Nations as an attempt to lend gravity to diplomatic efforts, rather than a brazen threat to send in troops. Those efforts intensified Tuesday, as the United States, France and Britain introduced their resolution, which also calls for freezing the assets of suspects in Hariri's slaying and banning their travel. The United Nations has been investigating the Feb. 14 bombing that killed Hariri, and the chief of the probe, Detlev Mehlis, told the Security Council on Tuesday that evidence pointed to the involvement of senior Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies in a plot to kill Hariri. An early version of his report, which accidentally became public last week, said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's brother, brother-in-law and close friend carefully planned the assassination over several months, meeting in the house of the brother-in-law, Asef Shawkat. A witness described the alleged plot in detail, telling U.N. investigators that Shawkat held a gun to a man's head and forced him to make a videotape claiming he was the suicide bomber to make it appear that an extremist group was behind the killing. A videotape surfaced after the slaying, although it was widely rejected as a fraud. Mehlis expunged the names from the report hours before it was released, saying they were meant for the Security Council's eyes only. The men have not been detained. Mehlis said Syria had not been cooperative, stating that Assad refused to meet with his investigators, Foreign Minister Farouk Chara lied to them and the answers of other senior Syrian officials he interviewed were so uniform that they appeared to be coached. He asked for an extension of the investigation until Dec. 15 -- which was granted -- so he could interview Syrian officials privately, even taking them out of the country if necessary to protect them. Syrian Ambassador Fayssal Mekdad called Mehlis' report inaccurate, a rush to judgment and a way for Washington to push its political agenda through the Security Council. ``Every paragraph in this report deserves comment to refute it,'' he said. But Mekdad pledged Syria's cooperation, and repeated Assad's promise to consider anyone found to be involved in the plot as a traitor and to put such people on trial. The foreign ministers of the 15 Security Council countries, plus Syria, will meet at a special session in New York on Monday during which the council is expected to vote on the proposed resolution. The draft text is unusually stringent, demanding ``substantive cooperation'' from Syria in the investigation, including detaining the Syrian officials whom Mehlis' team considers suspicious and making them available for private questioning. In preliminary negotiations, China, Russia and Algeria have resisted the idea of sanctions until Mehlis makes his final report Dec. 15. Russia's Foreign Ministry official Mikhail Kamynin warned in a statement Saturday that ``the settlement of this problem should in no way lead to the emergence of a new hotbed of tension and further destabilization in the Middle East.'' Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya said Monday that China traditionally opposes sanctions as interference in a country's sovereignty.
``Not only in this case, but in many cases, when sanctions are mentioned, I am always frightened,'' he said. ``Syria indicated they have cooperated, and they want to cooperate. Let's wait and see.''

Accountability for Syria

Washington Post - Accountability for Syria, October 22, 2005

The Bush administration rightly reacted quickly to a report by the United Nations that compellingly links the Syrian government to the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. President Bush said yesterday the U.N. Security Council should convene "as quickly as possible" to respond to the investigation; the United States and France are reportedly discussing two resolutions that would demand accountability from the government of Bashar Assad. The United States has plenty of reasons of its own to bring pressure on Mr. Assad, including his support for foreign terrorists and Sunni insurgents in Iraq. But the detailed report compiled by the U.N. commission clearly justifies -- indeed, makes urgent -- Security Council action. Citing multiple witnesses, documents and recordings of conversations, the investigation details both Syria's dispute with Mr. Hariri and the likely involvement of a number of senior officials in plotting his murder. It also reports the systematic stonewalling of the probe by the Syrian government. By insisting on full Syrian cooperation with the ongoing investigation, the Security Council has a rare opportunity to enforce consequences for a state-sponsored act of political murder. The Middle East has been poisoned by such acts for decades, yet almost never have the killers and their sponsors been identified and brought to justice. No regime merits such action more than the government of Mr. Assad, who since the fall of Saddam Hussein has stood out as the most conspicuous sponsor of terrorism in the Middle East. In addition to brazen meddling in Iraq and in Lebanon, where bombings and assassinations linked to Damascus have continued in the months after Mr. Hariri's Feb. 14 slaying, Mr. Assad is a prime sponsor of terrorism against Israel. Another U.N. report next week is expected to link his government to the support of Hezbollah and infiltration of weapons and extremists into Palestinian refugee camps in Leba non. Some apologists have argued that Mr. Assad, who succeeded his father as Syria's dictator in 2000, is the victim of hard-liners in his government. The U.N. investigation showed otherwise. Chief investigator Detlev Mehlis of Germany compiled multiple accounts of a meeting on Aug. 26, 2004, between Mr. Assad and Mr. Hariri, in which Mr. Assad threatened to "break Lebanon over your head" if the prime minister did not go along with the illegal extension of the mandate of the Lebanese president, a Syrian puppet. Another Syrian witness told the investigation that the decision to murder Mr. Hariri was made at a later meeting attended by Mr. Assad's brother, Maher Assad, and his brother-in-law, Major Gen. Asef Shawkat. Also directly implicated is Gen. Rustum Ghazali, Syria's most recent intelligence chief in Lebanon, and its former ambassador in Washington, Walid Mouallem. Mr. Mehlis has compromising tape recordings of both of them, including a meeting in which Mr. Mouallem warned Mr. Hariri, two weeks before his death, that "we and the [security] services here have put you into a corner." Intriguingly, one senior official not implicated in the murder plot is Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan, who was found in his office last week, dead of a gunshot wound, in what officials said was a suicide. The Security Council has a good precedent to follow here. When Western investigators linked the Libyan government to the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Scotland, the United Nations applied sanctions to the regime of Moammar Gaddafi and kept them in place until his government accepted responsibility for the crime and surrendered two of its authors for trial. The United Nations should demand no less in this case. The Syrian sponsors of Mr. Hariri's murder must be identified and brought to justice; if that includes Mr. Assad and his relatives, so be it.

US, France to Introduce UN Resolutions Against Syria

Washington Post - US, France to Introduce UN Resolutions Against Syria, October 19, 2005

By Robin Wright

The United States and France are planning to introduce two U.N. resolutions next week aimed at holding Syria to account for meddling in Lebanon and for its alleged links to the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, according to several sources close to the diplomacy. The moves would be the toughest international action ever taken against Syria and would be designed to further isolate President Bashar Assad, who for the first time is getting the cold shoulder from key Arab governments such as those in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Western envoys said. The impending actions will be "the perfect storm for Damascus," said a Western diplomat at the United Nations, speaking on the condition of anonymity because planning is still underway. "It's pretty clear the Syrians don't have any friends left." The resolutions may be introduced as early as Tuesday, he said. They would follow two reports on Syria expected to be submitted over the next two days to the U.N. Security Council. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan discussed the reports and plans for new resolutions during a working breakfast in New York, said sources familiar with the talks. Rice has been engaged in diplomacy on Syria over the past week during travels to France, Russia and Britain. Rice requested the meeting, which was not announced until it was over. "The region and the world have a number of issues with Syrian behavior," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, adding that the Lebanese, Iraqi and Palestinian governments have all protested Syrian practices. The most crucial report expected to be delivered this week is from German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, who will submit results of his U.N. investigation into the assassination of Hariri, who was Lebanon's leading reformer. Although the details of the report have been closely held, diplomats said they expect it to implicate Syria in the slaying of Hariri and 19 others in a Feb. 14 bombing, and to say that Syria has not fully complied with the investigation.
The U.N. envoy for Lebanon, Terje Roed-Larsen, is also scheduled to deliver a status report on Resolution 1559, which was co-sponsored by the United States and France last year. It calls for Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon and for the dismantling of militias. This report is expected to say that Syria has facilitated the flow of illicit arms and individuals into Palestinian camps in Lebanon, further undermining Lebanon's stability. Syria says it has complied with the United Nations by ending its 29-year occupation and withdrawing about 14,000 troops from Lebanon in April. It also denies any links to the Hariri bombing. "We have supported the Mehlis mission, and we have been cooperating with Mehlis," Imad Moustapha, Syria's ambassador to the United States, said yesterday. "We are absolutely categoric in saying we had nothing to do with Hariri. . . . If he does not reveal the truth, then this will allow certain people to point fingers here and there without any shred of evidence. "President Assad has said that if any Syrian individual has been party to this crime or implicated in the assassination of Hariri, then he has committed a treasonous crime." But key Security Council members have discussed extending the Mehlis mission until Dec. 15, which the U.N. chief can do without going to the Security Council. An extension could be used to continue probing or to provide a psychological boost for Lebanese authorities in persevering in the prosecution of Hariri's slaying, which unleashed the Cedar Revolution. The scope of any punitive action against Syria is also under discussion, diplomats said. The Bush administration has considered language critical of Syria for support of terrorism that could also be used to punish or pressure Damascus for aiding extremists in Iraq, envoys familiar with the diplomacy said. But France and other nations want the focus to be limited to Syria's intervention in Lebanon, mainly to prevent Arab backlash at a time of public anger over the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Of particular concern is the position of Algeria, whose socialist government has been close to Damascus in the past. Also, Algeria is now the Arab representative on the 15-member Security Council. But U.S., European and U.N. officials say Assad's government is facing bleak prospects even in the Arab world. Last month, Assad visited Cairo to win support from Egypt, a political trendsetter that accounts for more than half the Arab population. Instead, U.S. and Arab envoys say, President Hosni Mubarak told him to comply fully with Mehlis -- and not to expect help if Syrian officials are implicated. After their first summit, held in Paris yesterday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora issued a statement condemning the movement of arms and militants into the Palestinian refugee camps. At a joint news conference, Siniora said he and Abbas are specifically concerned about Syria's role.

UN Probe May Put Syrian between a Rock, Hard Place

Associated Press - UN Probe May Put Syrian between a Rock, Hard Place, September 28, 2005

By Hamza Hendawi

After other setbacks, the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad could be shaken to its core if a UN investigation finds evidence of Syrian involvement in the death of a former Lebanese Premier. It's been a rough year so far for Syrian President Bashar Assad, and it may get even rougher. With tensions high after another Lebanon bombing last weekend, Assad's regime could be shaken to its core if a U.N. probe points to Syrian involvement in the murder of a former Lebanese prime minister. So far this year, Assad has endured a humiliating pullout from Lebanon, ending 29 years of Syrian domination over its tiny neighbor. The man who came to power five years ago also has been at the receiving end of increasingly menacing U.S. demands to stop insurgents from going into Iraq. A U.N. probe into the Feb. 14 killing of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri is led by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, who is due to present his findings to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Oct. 21. With only a few friends left to turn to, Assad flew to Egypt on Sunday to enlist the help of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, a longtime U.S. ally, according to two officials familiar with the contents of their talks.
Mubarak: Cooperate
Mubarak advised Assad to fully cooperate with the probe and surrender any Syrians named by the U.N. investigators as accomplices in the killing, said the officials, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The Egyptian leader also counseled that Assad order a halt to harshly anti-U.S. comments by Syrian officials and in the state-run media. But Mubarak's plea for cooperation is potentially difficult for Assad because the search by U.N. investigators for conspirators could lead them to senior Syrian security officials , members of Assad's inner circle or even family members. Some Assad family members hold powerful positions in the intelligence and security services. Assad would be risking his credibility at home if he were to hand over suspects to U.N. or Lebanese investigators, especially because Syrian media and officials have for months been suggesting that the probe had a political slant.
No Easy Option
Failure to comply with extradition requests, on the other hand, could prompt the United States and France to take measures such as obtaining a U.N. Security Council resolution slapping punitive measures on Syria, including economic and trade sanctions. Or it could lead to the freezing of assets or even a ban on foreign travel by senior officials. ''He is damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't,'' Rosemary Morris, a Middle East expert at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, said of Assad's predicament. “Who will trust him again in his country if he hands over Syrians to be tried?'' Syria's media, which reflects government thinking, all but ignored a visit to Syria last week by Mehlis to question officials in connection with Hariri's death.
Questioned
Neither Mehlis nor Syria disclosed the names of the Syrians questioned by the U.N. team. Lebanese media have said they included Syria's last intelligence chief in Lebanon, Brig. Gen. Rustum Ghazale; two aides; and Syrian Interior Minister Ghazi Kenaan, intelligence chief in Lebanon until three years ago. The Syrian media's treatment of Mehlis' visit, says dissident Michel Kilo, showed the absence of a cohesive government strategy to deal with a potentially dangerous issue. ''There has been confusion in the way we dealt with all major issues in the past two years,'' said Kilo, by telephone in Damascus. ``If half of what we hear is true, then we are faced with a very dangerous situation and have reason to be very concerned.''

Full International Backing for Lebanon,Isolation for Syria

Daily Star - Full International Backing for Lebanon,Isolation for Syria, September 20, 2005

By Nada Bakri, Majdoline Hatoum and Nafez Qawas
The U.S. and France increased Syria's isolation as it demanded that it stop all meddling in Lebanon and Iraq and fully cooperate with the UN investigation team into the assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri. At a conference held at the initiative of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, during which the world's major players gathered to provide Lebanon with economic and political backing, Rice and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan demanded that Syria stop interfering in Lebanon, cooperate with the UN probe team and prevent insurgents from entering Iraq. Rice and Annan were accompanied by Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abdel-Gheith, Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov who all gave their support after Siniora presented his government's reform plan. European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana also took part. Rice also reiterated the U.S.'s position on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559 and the disarmament of Hizbullah, saying: "No democracy can exist when a certain group, especially in the government, which persists in maintaining the option of violence." She added: "There is one authority and one security force that reports to that authority." She also said Damascus must remain "true to the letter and the spirit of Resolution 1559." Rice said participants in the meeting, held on the sidelines of the UN's 60th General Assembly, wanted "full [Syrian] cooperation with the Mehlis [UN] investigation and that the truth be found whatever that truth is." Rice further demanded that Syria withdraw all remaining intelligence personnel from Lebanon "because Lebanon has to be free of foreign interference and Syria must respect the national sovereignty of Lebanon." Syria withdrew its troops and intelligence forces from Lebanon on April 26 under heavy Lebanese and international pressure, but the U.S. and leading opposition politicians say that intelligence personnel still remain in the country. Rice said: "It is clear that Syria needs to get on the right side of the events that are going on in the Middle East that means to cut off the routes that insurgents are using to use Syrian territory to penetrate into Iraq." Rice added: "This gathering I think, sends a powerful sign to the world, that the international community is devoted and committed to a peaceful prosperous, democratic and sovereign Lebanon." Speaking during a news conference after the meeting, Annan said: "The international community remains steadfast in its determination to ensure outside actors end all interference in the domestic affairs of Lebanon and invite all parties within Lebanon to commit themselves to peaceful democratic reforms and regional stability." Douste-Blazy also warned Syria against interference in Lebanon. He said: "For Syria, the most important thing is that there be no meddling [in Lebanon] either by its military or by its intelligence services. Lebanon can count on France." Faisal said, "The criminal hands that assassinated Hariri aimed at keeping Lebanon in a state of instability, but the result was the rise of a new and independent Lebanon and we will support it with all our efforts." Lebanon has one of the highest national debts in the world, measured at 165 percent of its Gross National Product or about $36 billion. Siniora hopes to win international debt relief, although most of the debt is held by Lebanese creditors, and pledges to stimulate the country's economy. Siniora said: "Today, Lebanon is at the threshold of a new dawn. With the goodwill and support of the international community and the determination of the Lebanese people, we have a real chance of achieving our goals." Siniora's appeal before the conference coincided with Lebanese President Lahoud's speech to the UN summit. But Lahoud defiantly praised Lebanon's "staunchly national movement of resistance and defense of Lebanon's territorial integrity," in reference to Hizbullah, thus rejecting the implementation of Resolution 1559. Lahoud said: "Lebanon has long endured from Israel's wars and occupation. This gave birth to a staunchly national movement of resistance and defense of Lebanon's territories as guaranteed by UN Charter under the 'right to fight occupation.'" There were no announcements of any new proposals aside from a commitment to hold a conference in Beirut by the end of the year to show support.

4 Former Lebanese Officials Held in Hariri Killing, Ex-Legislator Released

Voice of America - 4 Former Lebanese Officials Held in Hariri Killing, Ex-Legislator Released, 31 august 2005.

By Edward Yeranian
A former Lebanese lawmaker questioned in connection with the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri has been released. But four key former security officials remain in custody on suspicion of masterminding the assassination last February. The four once powerful Lebanese generals remain in custody as a U.N. team continues their interrogation in a mountain town outside of Beirut. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Sinioura said the four detainees are suspects in the February explosion, which killed former Prime Minister Rafik al Hariri and 20 others. Beirut's respected Al Mustaqbal newspaper, which belongs to the slain former prime minister's son, says that the four men met repeatedly to plot their crime, and even visited the crime scene prior to the explosion. A top pro-Syrian politician, Nasser Qandil, was questioned by U.N. investigators late Tuesday, but was later released. State Department spokesman Sean Mc Cormack welcomed the arrests, saying the Lebanese people deserve to know what happened. He reiterated Washington's demand that Syria fully comply with U.N. resolutions. The U.N. Security Council also has welcomed the arrest of suspects, but a senior U.N. official said Tuesday that Syria is still not cooperating with the investigation. Edmond Sa'ab, the executive editor of Beirut's popular An Nahar newspaper says many ordinary Lebanese are rejoicing at the arrests of the four men whom they blame for killing Mr. Hariri. Even though, he says, many people believed the culprits will never be brought to justice. "There was a brainwashing campaign 15 days ago, through some newspapers and media in Lebanon that the international committee [U.N. investigation panel] is not serious and will not arrest or detain the accused people, because they are above the law and more powerful than Lebanon or the United Nations," said Edmond Sa'ab. The arrested generals, Jamil As Sayyed, Raymond Azar, Ali al Haj and Mustapha Hamdan, were close allies of Syria, which is widely believed to be behind the February bombing. Damascus has denied any responsibility, and Syrian President Bashar al Assad pledged, in an interview Monday, that his country would fully comply with requests of the U.N. investigating team.

Lebanese Cabinet Denies Seeking to Alter UN Wording

Daily Star - Lebanese Cabinet Denies Seeking to Alter UN Wording, April 6, 2005

By Nayla Assaf and Khalil Fleihan
Lebanon's Cabinet denied claims it is trying to have the term "terrorist act" removed from a UN Security Council resolution on former Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination. The denial comes hard on the heels of the introduction of a U.S. and French draft resolution, introduced at the Security Council Monday night. The final version of the draft rejected a number of amendments put forward by the Lebanese government. Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud said: "This ministry did not tell its delegation in New York to try and strike off the term 'terrorist' from the description of the criminal act that led to the death of Premier Rafik Hariri." Hammoud's comments follow accusations by the country's political opposition that the government attempted to tamper with the draft resolution's terminology in a bid to avoid any future sanctions against Lebanon under current UN terrorist proscriptions. Meanwhile, Security Council President Guangya Wang said a resolution mandating an international probe into Hariri's killing is likely to come out later this week. Wang, China's UN Ambassador and the current council president, said the security council was still debating minor issues such as the duration of the probe, which some members want to see reduced from six months to three.
France, the U.S. and the U.K., who drafted the resolution, rejected Lebanon's call for major involvement in the inquiry. Instead, the recruitment of inspectors by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will not be subject to Lebanon's approval and the commission will have the authority to determine its own procedures and what role Lebanese authorities will play in the probe. Lebanon had asked for investigators to be given the "right"to interrogate people, rather than the "authority" as demanded by the UN. The government also insisted investigators be allowed to interrogate "officials", instead of "all officials" as the wording of the draft calls for. Both amendments were rejected. But the draft will now include one Lebanese requirement, the endorsement of Annan's opinion "that Lebanon is passing through a sensitive period, that all concerned parties should behave with the utmost restraint and that the future of Lebanon should be decided strictly through peaceful means." The draft resolution is based on the results of a UN fact-finding mission led by Irish police commissioner Peter Fitzgerald which found the Lebanese investigations into Hariri's murder were "flawed."

Assad Slams UN's Report on Hariri Assassination

Daily Star - Assad Slams UN's Report on Hariri Assassination, March 31, 2005

By Adnan El-Ghoul
Syrian President Bashar Assad has slammed the UN's fact-finding mission into the assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri and denied its central accusation that he threatened Hariri with physical harm. Assad said: "It is a report of political character when I was expecting rather a report of a technical-criminal nature." "Right until the end Syria had excellent relations with Mr. Hariri. We had worked with him since the 1990s," Assad told Austrian weekly News.
The UN report said Syria bore "primary responsibility" for the political tension that preceded the assassination and accused Assad of warning Hariri that he "would rather break Lebanon over the heads of Hariri and the Druze leader Walid Jumblatt than see his word in Lebanon broken." In a letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Sharaa demanded the deletion of Assad's alleged threat to Hariri from the report. Sharaa said that the claim of an "alleged improper dialogue" between Assad and Hariri was "very strange" and should be removed. Sharaa added: "This reference will never be accepted because it is untrue and lacks any material evidence. It should be removed to help preserve the credibility of the United Nations." The UN Security Council has postponed a discussion on whether it should establish a wide-reaching investigation into Hariri's murder until later today. It is understood that a joint draft declaration, sponsored by France and the United States, will insist that any investigation must have the power to call any witnesses it sees fit without any interference from Lebanese authorities. The UN report said an international investigation could not be satisfactorily carried while Lebanon's security chiefs, who are all close to Syria, remain in power. But since the report was published, military intelligence chief, General Raymond Azar, has taken a month's leave of absence. Lebanon agreed to a UN-led probe in the wake of the report, a move which Damascus said it supported. Lebanon has asked France to provide a copy of the proposed draft but the French diplomats said the draft was still subject to alterations and amendment. Judge Elias Eid, who replaced Michel Abu Arraj in leading the inquiry into Hariri's killing, asked for a detailed copy of the UN report to add its own findings. Sources say France intends to propose a neutral investigation committee in conformity with the aspiration of Lebanese official as explained in their letter to the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. In this letter, Lebanon accepted the international investigation on condition that it be neutral and in coordination with the Lebanese authorities. In order to accommodate Lebanon's considerations, France may suggest that only Annan should select the members of the investigation committee from neutral countries. In all accounts, the diplomatic sources do not expect a criminal panel with an international court, but rather an inquiry team with powers to summon any suspects based on the team's findings.

Finger-Pointing Begins as Nations Ask, 'Who?'

International Herald Tribune - Finger-Pointing Begins as Nations Ask, 'Who?', February 15, 2005

By Brian Knowlton
The United States said Monday that it would confer immediately with UN Security Council members on steps to punish those responsible for the assassination of Rafik Hariri, the former prime minister of Lebanon, and France called for an immediate international investigation. The United States will consult with other governments "about measures that can be taken to punish those responsible for this terrorist attack," and "to restore Lebanon's independence, sovereignty and democracy by freeing it from foreign occupation," the White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, said. President Jacques Chirac of France, a close friend of Hariri, condemned the attack, and said Hariri represented "the indefatigable will of independence, freedom and democracy" for Lebanon. Other government leaders around the world deplored the attack and expressed concern about the stability of Lebanon and its neighbors. While saying that "we do not know who was responsible for the attack at this point," McClellan clearly implied that U.S. suspicions pointed to Syria, which has 14,000 troops in Lebanon, and that more than condemnation might be under consideration, in concert with other countries. It was not immediately clear what new action Washington would seek from the Security Council, which last fall voted unanimously to demand the withdrawal of foreign troops from Lebanon. Hariri resigned as prime minister in October after disputes with President Emile Lahoud, who is pro-Syrian. The bombing, McClellan said, appeared to have been "an attempt to stifle these efforts to build an independent, sovereign Lebanon free of foreign domination." Syria is the only foreign power with troops based in Lebanon. Pressed by reporters, McClellan said, "It's premature to know who was responsible for this attack, but we continue to be concerned about the foreign occupation in Lebanon." Word of the assassination provoked a burst of finger-pointing directed at Syria, evoking widespread concerns that the stability of Lebanon and perhaps the larger region could be threatened. McClellan's remarks during a White House briefing appeared to be a toughening of a stance taken hours earlier. Then, he said that it was unclear who had conducted the attack, but added, deliberately, that Lebanon must be able to build a future "free from Syrian occupation." A Syrian official called the use of such language "not really constructive." Hariri recently joined demands by Lebanese opposition politicians that Syria withdraw its troops from Lebanon before general elections scheduled there for May. Hariri, who was friendly with President George W. Bush and a close friend of Chirac, had successfully encouraged both the United States and France to increase pressure on Damascus to remove its troops. France joined the United States and the 13 other United Nations Security Council members last autumn in a resolution urging a troop withdrawal. The Bush administration has also been ratcheting up pressure on Syria to halt support for militant groups in Israel and Iraq. Israel was less circumspect than McClellan was in suggesting a link between Syria and the attack. Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom of Israel said that there was "no doubt" that Syria was "uncomfortable with the prospect of elections in Lebanon, and the last thing they want is to be forced to leave Lebanon." From Paris, where he met with Chirac, Shalom told Israeli radio that while "I cannot say for certain that Syria is behind this attack," Damascus was associated with "many groups which could have carried it out." He mentioned Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. President Bashar Assad of Syria condemned Hariri's killing as a "terrible criminal act" and urged the Lebanese "to reinforce their national unity and reject all those who aim to cause trouble and sow division," the official Syrian press agency SANA reported. Iran, however, suggested that Israel might have had a hand in the killing. "An organized terrorist structure such as the Zionist regime has the capacity for such an operation, whose aim is to undermine the unity of Lebanon," Hamid Reza Asefi, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said, according to the official IRNA press agency. France called for an international inquiry "to determine the circumstances of, and responsibility for, this tragedy, before punishing the culprits." A statement from Chirac's office said "France pays tribute to the person who personified Lebanon's unshaking will for independence, freedom and democracy." Amr Mussa, secretary general of the Arab League, condemned the attack as an act of "massive sedition" and expressed grave concerns about its regional ramifications. "The probabilities are serious," Mussa said, "and we beseech God to save Lebanon from this dangerous terrorist act and its repercussions." He said it would have "a significant fallout," Agence France-Presse reported from Cairo. The European Union urged the Lebanese to remain calm and to hold to the schedule of elections in May. "We condemn unreservedly all those who seek to obtain their goals through violent means," said Emma Udwin, an EU spokeswoman. Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, called the killing "despicable" and called Hariri "a man of peace and a great friend." Some financial markets in the region responded with jitters. The United Nations Security Council last year unanimously called for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Lebanon; the wording could apply only to Syrian forces, in the country since 1976. The resolution also demanded the disarmament of all militias in Lebanon, which was seen as a reference to the Syrian-backed Hezbollah militant group.