August 21, 2010 - YaLibnan - Najjar:I will say what I know about STL false witnesses

Lebanon Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar said Saturday that he will not issue any statements on the false witnesses case before another week in preparation of his study of their file.

He told An Nahar: “I will say what I know on the matter and what I have to say based on my professionalism and vast experience that dates back to 40 years.”

In a related development The Future bloc which is headed by PM Saad Hariri agreed after its meeting on Friday that “there is no such thing as a false witnesses file,” according to An Nahar .

“A false witness is one who takes the oath before the judge and then backs downs from his pledge” and this is not the case in false witnesses file in the investigation of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the bloc added.

Furthermore, it noted that the investigation is conducted under great secrecy and no individual knows what the witnesses have stated “and therefore there is no false witnesses file to be handed over to Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar, but only a request to prepare answers to specific questions.”


Damning evidence

Highly sensitive articles on the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri are expected to be published in American newspapers within the next few days, a media sources told the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper.

The sources added that only three individuals in the U.S. administration are following up on the issue of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and matters related to it.

Al-Rai quoted one of the officials as saying: “Damning evidence that demonstrates Hezbollah’s involvement in the assassination may appear in the upcoming days.”

Furthermore, the official said he considered Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s latest press conference, during which he said that Israel may be behind the crime, “as an attempt to mislead the investigation and buy some time.”

Doubts

Dr. Stephan Rosiny of the German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA) who prepared a report on the assassination of Lebanon’s former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri told the An Nahar newspaper on Saturday that he based his analysis on possible assumptions and his own personal expertise.

A holder of a doctorate on Hezbollah, the German researcher doubted that the group could be behind the assassination.

“If Hezbollah planned the crime, it may have executed it in a more precise manner,” Rosiny said. He may have been referring to the cleanup of the assassination site following the murder of Hariri.

He added that western governments are seeking to break the Syrian-Iranian-Hezbollah-Hamas front, and removing the accusation off of Syria is a step in that direction.

Many observers are of the opinion that if Hezbollah is behind Hariri ’s assassination , it could not have done it without the complete approval of the Syrian regime

Fabrications

During a phone interview with Kuwaiti al-Seyassah newspaper , Mohammed Zuhair Siddiq who was branded in 2005 as the “King Witness” described Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s information on former PM Rafik Hariri’s murder as fabricated and accused Hezbollah and the Syrian intelligence of fabricating false witnesses.

The evidence that allegedly accuses Israel of involvement in Hariri’s assassination is “unconvincing,” Siddiq told the al-Seyassah newspaper in remarks published Friday.