Brammertz report on Hariri probe satisfies Damascus

Daily Star - Brammertz report on Hariri probe satisfies Damascus, July 14, 2007.

By Hani M. Bathish

BEIRUT: Damascus is satisfied with Belgian Prosecutor Serge Brammertz' eighth report to UN chief Ban Ki-moon on the progress of the UN probe into the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri, the Syrian UN envoy announced Friday. In his most recent report, Brammertz said Syria and other states continued to provide "mostly positive responses" to requests for assistance.
Bashar al-Jaafari, Syria's UN ambassador, said there were clear indications that his country's cooperation with the probe was generally satisfactory - a fact he said was mentioned several times in the report. Jaafari said articles 93 and 94 pointed to Syria's continued facilitation of the commission's work, including timely responses to requests for interviews and access to certain information.
A copy of the report has been delivered to Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and another to State Prosecutor Said Mirza. Ban will likely present the report to the UN Security Council on July 19.
The Central News Agency said Friday that sources have warned of the deteriorating political situation in Lebanon and its impact on the progress of the investigation, especially the safety of possible witnesses who could be called to testify.
Brammertz, who heads the UN's International Independent Investigation Commission, said investigators had "significantly narrowed down" possible motives for the slaying to Hariri's political and personal relationships in Lebanon, Syria and other countries.
The report said the findings gathered so far have "helped identify a number of persons of particular interest who may have been involved in some aspect of the preparation and execution of the attack on Rafik Hariri or the other cases under investigation."
The Brammertz report said international attempts to block President Emile Lahoud's term extension via constitutional amendment "played an important role in shaping the environment in which the motives to assassinate Rafik Hariri emerged," specifically UN Security Council Resolution 1559.
The report also uncovered new information about the buyers of the Mitsubishi Canter van "most likely used to carry the explosives" that killed Hariri and 22 others on February 14, 2005. The report mentioned information that was recently acquired "regarding the sale of the van to individuals who could be involved in the final preparation of the van for the attack on Rafik Hariri."
The report said this line of inquiry is being pursued as a priority. The van was stolen from Japan in October 2004, then shipped to the United Arab Emirates and later shipped to Lebanon, ending up in a showroom in Tripoli in December 2004.
The report confirmed its earlier conclusions that "individuals using six mobile cell phone SIM cards acted in a coordinated manner to conduct surveillance on Hariri in the weeks prior to the assassination."
It added that "a detailed analysis of the use of these cards on the day of the assassination indicates that these individuals played a critical role in the planning and execution of the attack itself, as demonstrated by their movements and call patterns."