Daily Star - Le Ministre francais : Siddiq n'est plus sous protection

Daily Star - French minister: Siddiq no longer under protection, April 24, 2008

French Justice Minister Rashida Dati said that French judicial authorities have withdrawn their witness protection services to a key Syrian witness in the probe into former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination, a report carried by the Central News Agency (CNA) reported Wednesday. "Mohammad Zuhair al-Siddiq was no longer under the surveillance or protection of French judicial authorities shortly after the Higher Court of Appeals in Versailles rejected a demand filed by the Lebanese government demanding his extradition," Dati said in a letter to French MP Gerard Bapt. Bapt had sent a letter to Dati demanding an explanation for Siddiq's sudden disappearance from France. According to the report carried by the CNA, Dati also informed Bapt that the French judiciary did not carry out any investigations into Siddiq's disappearance, "since he is no longer demanded by the judiciary and his leaving the French territories is not considered a felony." Siddiq reportedly called a Kuwaiti newspaper in early April to say he was well but hiding in Europe for fear for his life. Siddiq had been living in France under house arrest until he disappeared. French authorities confirmed the disappearance and said Siddiq was last seen when he left his house on March 13. Kuwaiti daily As-Siyassah said Siddiq called the paper's offices earlier this month and said: "I'm still in Europe, in a safe place." The report quoted him as saying he feared for his life and that there had been three attempts to kill him. Over the phone, Siddiq also reportedly accused the UN commission which is investigating the Hariri assassination of failing to protect him and his family, and threatened to bring legal action against the UN.Siddiq was quoted as saying he would stay in his secret location until the international tribunal starts prosecuting the Hariri case. Many Lebanese blame Syria for the truck bombing in central Beirut that killed Hariri and 22 others. Damascus denies any involvement, but the furor caused by the assassination forced Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, ending a 29-year presence here. In other developments, Justice Minister Charles Rizk has proposed that the head of the UN commission investigating Hariri's assassination begin his role as prosecutor for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on June 15 in exchange for the government approving the extension of the investigation commission's mandate, Rizk told The Daily Star on Monday. "We are prepared to ask for an extension of the commission, but in return we ask [UN chief Ban Ki-moon] to appoint him prosecutor," Rizk said. Rizk wrote a letter to Prime Minister Fouad Siniora last week asking the premier to put the two items on the Cabinet's agenda. Last month, commission chief and Canadian prosecutor Daniel Bellemare had asked Rizk to have the government request an extension beyond June 15 for the commission. The minister said his move was motivated only by a desire to speed up the establishment of the tribunal. The tribunal was created by the UN Security Council on May 30 last year through Resolution 1757 after the dormant Lebanese Parliament failed to meet to vote on a bilateral agreement between the UN and Lebanon.