April 9, 2009 - Daily Star - Judge lifts warrants against security chiefs

BEIRUT: A Lebanese investigating judge lifted Wednesday arrest warrants against four high-ranking generals jailed since 2005 in connection with former Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination AFP. However the official, who asked not to be identified, added that Judge Sakr Sakr also order that the four remain in jail pending a decision on their fate by The Hague-based Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).

Sakr issued his decision as he approved the transfer of Lebanese documents linked to a probe into Hariri's 2005 murder to the tribunal set up to try suspects in the case and in the killings of other Lebanese figures.

"Lebanon's justice system has decided to stand back from the case and stop its probe," Sakr said in his ruling.

He added that it was up to the STL to decide whether the generals, who have not been formally charged, would remain behind bars.

The four generals are the former head of the Presidential Guard, Mustafa Hamdan, security services director Jamil Sayyed, domestic security chief Ali Hajj and military intelligence chief Raymond Azar.

Sayyed's lawyer Akram Azouri welcomed Wednesday's decision, saying it augured well for his client.

"This means that the generals no longer stand accused or can be considered under arrest," he told AFP. "They are now simply detained and the judge's ruling put an end to the case between us the Lebanese judiciary." He added that he expects the special tribunal to order the release of his client and the three other generals in the coming days.

The Central News Agency reported Tuesday that surveillance cameras were set up around the houses of the four detained Lebanese generals Tuesday amid speculation they would be released under house arrest.

On Wednesday, Lebanese authorities have begun shipping records of their investigation into Hariri's assassination of to the Netherlands-based tribunal prosecuting the former premier's suspected killers.


A judge at the tribunal has formally requested that Lebanese authorities turn over the documents, bringing the tribunal a step closer to seeking custody of the generals who have not been formally charged.

The tribunal's registrar Robin Vincent had told The Daily Star Friday that even though four Lebanese judges were sworn in last month at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, the court still cannot release their names because of concerns for their security.

The tribunal announced on March 24 that Antonio Cassese, an Italian, had taken his oath as president of the tribunal's judges, while Belgium's Daniel Fransen had been sworn in as the court's pre-trial judge. The Lebanese judges - among them the tribunal's vice president as required by the court's statutes - were sworn in with the seven international jurists, but their identities remain a secret.

The court released Cassese's and Fransen's names because security measures had been taken in their home countries, but the names of the Lebanese judges will come out only when the judges say the security precautions here are sufficient, Vincent said.

Hariri's murder in a seafront bombing was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since its 1975-90 Civil War, and led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops after a 29-year presence.

A UN investigative commission has pointed to evidence that Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services were involved in Hariri's killing on February 14, 2005.

Damascus has consistently denied any involvement in the attack and in the murders of several other anti-Syrian politicians since 2005.