Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah held a press conference on Monday to present evidence that he said should change the course of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s (STL) investigation of the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Nasrallah said in July that the STL will indict some of his party members and warned that the tribunal is an “Israeli project” aiming to incite domestic strife.
Nasrallah said in the press conference that an Israeli spy identified as Ahmad Nasrallah—who is not related to the Hezbollah leader—was dispatched by Israel in the early 1990s to tell former PM Rafik Hariri that Hezbollah was trying to kill him. As proof of his claims, Nasrallah broadcast a video showing Ahmad Nasrallah confessing to his actions.
The Hezbollah chief added that Ahmad Nasrallah was arrested in 1996 and released in 2000, after which he escaped to Israel through the southern border.
“We have to assume that Rafik Hariri at the time not only informed Syrian intelligence, but also told [countries friendly to him], including France,” said Nasrallah, adding, “This is how Israel was plotting from the beginning to link [Rafik] Hariri’s murder to Hezbollah.”
Nasrallah then said that Hezbollah captured an Israeli MK Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) before 1997, which they used to breach the footage of Israeli UAVs monitoring Lebanon.
“We decided to go back to archives we had since 2005 to see if we can intercept Israeli UAV footage of roads used by Rafik Hariri that could be targeted by Israel,” he said. Nasrallah added that this evidence proves that something was being prepared.
Footage was shown from Israeli UAVs filming the usual routes Rafik Hariri allegedly used to take in Beirut, Saida and Mount Lebanon.
According to Nasrallah, the UAV footage was not conclusive proof. However, he added that Hezbollah does not have any offices in the areas filmed by the Israeli planes.
Nasrallah also said that Hezbollah has evidence that Ghassan al-Jedd, an alleged Israeli spy who hosted Israeli operations teams, was present at the Rafik Hariri crime scene near the Saint George Hotel the day the former PM was murdered. However, he said that he will not disclose how Jedd’s activities were discovered.
A video shown on Jedd said that he became an Israeli spy in the early 1990s, before he escaped from Lebanon in 2009.
“We presented the evidence to the Lebanese authorities, but Jedd escaped from Lebanon before he was caught,” he added.
“We only want to show that Hezbollah is innocent, while there are others working day and night to ensure Israel comes out innocent,” Nasrallah added.
PRESS REVIEW
August 9, 2010 - Now Lebanon - Nasrallah unveils “Israeli footage” linked to Hariri’s murder
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Background - خلفية
On 13 December 2005 the Government of the Lebanese Republic requested the UN to establish a tribunal of an international character to try all those who are alleged responsible for the attack of 14 february 2005 that killed the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 22 others. The United Nations and the Lebanese Republic consequently negotiated an agreement on the establishment of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
Chronology - Chronologie
Détenus - Detainees - المعتقلون
International Criminal Justice
Videos - فيديو
- Now Lebanon : Crowds Gather to Show Support for International Tribunal, August 4, 2010
- IRIS Institute:La creation du TSL est-elle justifiee? - June 18, 2009
- Al Manar : Interview with Ali Hajj right after his release - April 30, 2009
- Al Manar: Summary of Jamil Al Sayyed's press conference, April 30, 2009
- AFP, Freed Lebanese prisoner speaks out - April 30, 2009
- OTV : exclusive interview with Jamil Sayyed - April 30, 2009
- Al Jazeeera English : Crowds celebrate Hariri suspects'release - April 29, 2009
- OTV : report about Ali el Hajj - March 18, 2009
Liens - Links - مواقع ذات صلة
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, David Schenker , March 30, 2010 . Beirut Spring: The Hariri Tribunal Goes Hunting for Hizballah
Frederic Megret, McGill University, 2008. A special tribunal for Lebanon: the UN Security Council and the emancipation of International Criminal Justice
International Center for Transitional Justice Handbook on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, April 10, 2008
United Nations
Conférence de presse de Nicolas Michel, 19 Sept 2007
Conférence de presse de Nicolas Michel, 27 Mars 2008
Département d'Etat américain
* 2009 Human Rights report
* 2008 Human Rights report
* 2007 Human Rights report
* 2006 Human Rights report
* 2005 Human Rights report
ICG - International Crisis Group
The Hariri Tribunal: Separate the Political and the Judicial, 19 July, 2007. [Fr]
HCSS - Hague Centre for strategic studies
Hariri, Homicide and the Hague
Human Rights Watch
* Hariri Tribunal can restore faith in law, 11 may 2006
* Letter to Secretary-General Kofi Annan, april 27, 2006
Amnesty International
* STL insufficient without wider action to combat impunity
* Liban : le Tribunal de tous les dangers, mai 2007
* Jeu de mecano
Courrier de l'ACAT - Wadih Al Asmar
Le Tribunal spécial pour le Liban : entre espoir et inquiétude
Georges Corm
La justice penale internationale pour le Liban : bienfait ou malediction?
Nadim Shedadi and Elizabeth Wilmshurt, Chatham House
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon : the UN on Trial?, July 2007
Issam Michael Saliba, Law Library of Congress
International Tribunals, National Crimes and the Hariri Assassination : a novel development in International Criminal Law, June 2007
Mona Yacoubian, Council on Foreign Relations
Linkages between Special UN Tribunal, Lebanon, and Syria, June 1, 2007
Frederic Megret, McGill University, 2008. A special tribunal for Lebanon: the UN Security Council and the emancipation of International Criminal Justice
International Center for Transitional Justice Handbook on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, April 10, 2008
United Nations
Conférence de presse de Nicolas Michel, 19 Sept 2007
Conférence de presse de Nicolas Michel, 27 Mars 2008
Département d'Etat américain
* 2009 Human Rights report
* 2008 Human Rights report
* 2007 Human Rights report
* 2006 Human Rights report
* 2005 Human Rights report
ICG - International Crisis Group
The Hariri Tribunal: Separate the Political and the Judicial, 19 July, 2007. [Fr]
HCSS - Hague Centre for strategic studies
Hariri, Homicide and the Hague
Human Rights Watch
* Hariri Tribunal can restore faith in law, 11 may 2006
* Letter to Secretary-General Kofi Annan, april 27, 2006
Amnesty International
* STL insufficient without wider action to combat impunity
* Liban : le Tribunal de tous les dangers, mai 2007
* Jeu de mecano
Courrier de l'ACAT - Wadih Al Asmar
Le Tribunal spécial pour le Liban : entre espoir et inquiétude
Georges Corm
La justice penale internationale pour le Liban : bienfait ou malediction?
Nadim Shedadi and Elizabeth Wilmshurt, Chatham House
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon : the UN on Trial?, July 2007
Issam Michael Saliba, Law Library of Congress
International Tribunals, National Crimes and the Hariri Assassination : a novel development in International Criminal Law, June 2007
Mona Yacoubian, Council on Foreign Relations
Linkages between Special UN Tribunal, Lebanon, and Syria, June 1, 2007
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