Daily Star - Najjar denies saying four ex-generals are bound for The Hague, October 31, 2008

Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar denied in comments published Thursday that he had told As-Sayyad magazine that the four former security chiefs detained for alleged involvement in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri would be transferred to the headquarters of the international tribunal in The Hague. "I find the report about the issue of the international court and the four generals strange ... I never said anything about the international tribunal because the court has not been set up yet ... The judges are still not known and the issue is in the hands of the judiciary," Najjar, who is in Paris, told As-Safir newspaper. He also stressed that he never said the four generals would be transferred abroad because he doesn't know the details of the investigation. "The issue of the generals' transfer to The Hague or any other place is under the jurisdiction of the Lebanese judiciary, which has the final say on the subject," he added. Najjar's comments came after he was quoted as telling As-Sayyad that the tribunal will kick off its work in March and that the four generals will be taken to The Hague for trial. The daily Ad-Diyar reported last week that chief UN investigator Daniel Bellemare requested an international jet between December 5-20 under the protection of both police and Lebanese army troops for the former security chiefs' transfer. The four former generals are Jamil al-Sayyed of General Security, Ali Hajj of the Internal Security Forces, Raymond Azar of Lebanese Army Intelligence and Mustafa Hamdan of the Presidential Guards. Al-Mustaqbal daily on Thursday quoted legal sources as saying that "major witnesses in the case have already been transferred to the Netherlands after the witness protection program was almost complete." They said the names of the witnesses would not be released until the court's general prosecutor issues his final verdict on the case and after Lebanese and international authorities take necessary measures to transfer the families of the witnesses out of Lebanon or their countries of residence. Lebanese judicial sources involved in the investigations into the Hariri assassination and related crimes told Al-Mustaqbal that the judiciary was almost ready to hand over the cases to Bellemare as soon as he assumes his duties as general prosecutor early next year. International sources, however, told As-Safir that "no one except UN chief Ban Ki-moon knows when the international court will start functioning." They added that the court could not begin operations beginning 2009 because Ban wants to make sure that the court is able to cover its expenses for the coming three years and because measures need to be taken to protect witnesses. Sources following the case also told As-Safir that the UN chose the four Lebanese judges from a 12-member list after undergoing training in Switzerland.