April 21, 2009 - Daily Star - Key suspect in Hariri killing arrested in Dubai - diplomat

Damascus seeking Siddiq's extradition

By Andrew Wander

BEIRUT: A key suspect in the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has been arrested in the United Arab Emirates after more than a year on the run from international authorities, a diplomat has claimed. Mohammad Zuhair Siddiq, a former Syrian intelligence agent, was named as a suspect in the murder by the UN team tasked with piecing together the circumstances surrounding Hariri's death.
Siddiq was initially considered a key witness in the investigation, but quickly came under suspicion when the validity of evidence that he gave the tribunal was called into question.
He was arrested in Paris in October 2005, but French authorities refused to extradite him to Lebanon because they could not guarantee he would not receive the death penalty for his alleged role in the plot.
Instead, he was kept under house arrest in Paris, but he escaped in March of last year and his whereabouts were not known until Friday, when an Arab diplomat in Dubai, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Siddiq has been arrested in the UAE and that Syria had requested his extradition.
Authorities in the UAE have refused to confirm the diplomat's claim, or even to indicate whether Siddiq was resident in the country, but Syrian media reports say that Damascus is seeking to charge him with giving the investigators false information that implicated Syria in Hariri's killing.
Anti-Syrian politicians in Lebanon, who swept to power after Hariri's death, have long accused Damascus of organizing the murder of the five time premier in coordination with their allies in Lebanon, a charge that Syria's leadership has denied.
Last month, officials at the Hariri tribunal reported receiving telephone calls from Siddiq, although they insisted that his whereabouts remained unknown. The nature of what was discussed in the telephones calls remains unknown.
The news of Siddiq's capture comes just days before a decision on the fate of the only suspects held in connection with the enquiry into Hariri's death in February 2005.
Generals Raymond Azar, Mustapha Hamdan, Ali Hajj and Jamil al-Sayyed were all senior officials in Lebanon's security apparatus at the time of the massive car bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others.
They have been in custody since 2005 despite never being formally charged with a crime, and have repeatedly claimed their innocence. Earlier this month, Judge Saqr Saqr, the investigating judge in Lebanon, lifted arrest warrants for the generals, sparking rumors that their release was imminent.
But he decided to keep them in custody pending a decision by the tribunal's prosecutor, Daniel Bellemare. Bellemare has been told by the tribunal judge Daniel Fransen, that he must decide whether to recommend freeing the men or prolonging their detention by April 27.
Justice Minster Ibrahimn Najjar told The Daily Star on Monday that Bellemare's recommendation to Fransen would be backed up with evidence. "He has a deadline to provide the pre-trial judge with his request and the reasons for that request," he said.
Bellemare has two options open to him. The Central News Agency reported last week that he can either recommend that the four men are released or alternatively ask for a video conference between the judge at the tribunal and the prisoners to help decide on a further course of action.
Najjar was unable to confirm or deny the reports of Siddiq's arrest.