August 31, 2009 - Daily Star - Sayyed tells Hariri: 'You are your own father's killer'

BEIRUT: Former head of General Security Jamil al-Sayyed accused on Sunday Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri along with some judges and officers of falsifying evidence in the assassination case. Sayyed said that the prime- minister designate has “no right to claim justice” from by the United Nations Backed-Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), “when he approved of people making baseless accusations and falsifying facts for four consecutive years.”
The former general was speaking during a news conference at the Coral Beach to mark the day he was incarcerated on August 30, 2005 for alleged involvement in the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Sayyed said former Premier Rafik Hariri was murdered three times. “The first on February 14, 2005] and the assassins remain at large thanks to some officers and politicians surrounding [Saad] Hariri,” he said.
“The second time Rafik Hariri was assassinated was when the four generals were arrested after false witnesses were dictated lies by certain politicians, officers and journalists,” he added.
“The third time Hariri was killed was when the four generals were released in April,” he added.
Sayyed was among four top generals who were released in April after four years in custody in connection with Hariri’s assassination, none has ever been formally charged.
The other three are the former head of the presidential guard, Mustafa Hamdan, Internal Security Forces chief Ali Hajj, and military intelligence chief Raymond Azar, 56.
Sayyed accused a number of prominent figures of misleading the investigation, including MP Marwan Hamadeh; former head of the Lebanese Armed Forces Intelligence Branch, Johnny Abdo; current head of the Internal Security Forces Intelligence department, Wissam al-Hassan; Hariri advisor Hani Hammoud; journalist Fares Khashan; State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza; and investigative judge Saqr Saqr.
He called on Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar to imprison Mirza and Hassan for “crimes against the state,” as they oversaw the investigation into Rafik Hariri’s assassination, questioned witnesses and ordered the arrest of the four generals, without charge.
He also accused Hariri of protecting false witnesses, including as Mohammad Zuheir al-Siddiq, Hossam Hossam and Ibrahim Jarjoura.
Addressing Hariri, Sayyed said: “You are your father’s own killer until you hold all of those accountable.”
He also urged Hariri to “clean-up state institutions and to hold accountable all those who distorted the truth for political reasons.”
Sayyed called on the international tribunal to try false witnesses, “rather than overlook their existence.”
Spokeswoman for STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, Radhia Ashouri told reporters during a news conference in July in Beirut that the prosecution was not seeking to speak further with Mohammad Zuhair Siddiq, the former Syrian intelligence officer who alleged that Syrian President Bashar Assad and his then-Lebanese counterpart Emile Lahoud ordered Hariri’s killing.
Siddiq was initially treated as a witness by the tribunal but became a suspect after his testimonies were discredited.
“The evidence he provided is not acceptable and we are not interested in him,” said Ashouri.
During his news conference, Sayyed also slammed President Michel Sleiman, requesting that he act “as an honorable military general and not as a prisoner of Baabda Palace and the civil suit.”
“Sleiman and Hariri specifically should hold all those who committed mistakes accountable since the assassination of Rafik Hariri,” he added.
The former general also accused Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt of being “deceitful on the political level,” adding that anyone who takes Jumblatt for an ally “is making a mistake.” – The Daily Star

Future movement surprised at campaign against stl

BEIRUT: The Future Movement issued a statement on Sunday expressing surprise over the campaign directed against the United Nations-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) launched a few days ago by some media outlets “of known affiliations” as well as former deputies and state employees.
The statement said that among those attacking the STL was former General Security Director Jamil Sayyed, whose comments during his press conference earlier on Sunday came filled with “fabrications,” including attacks on President Michel Sleiman, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, religious authorities, the Lebanese judiciary and the international investigation.
The Future Movement statement said such campaigns will not affect the work of the STL, explaining that it trusts the STL is not politicized and that “former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and all the martyrs did not die in a car accident, but were assassinated with thousands of kilograms of explosives.”
The statement added that the recent renewal of criticism targeting the STL “comes in response to Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri’s successful efforts in guaranteeing internal stability and resolving the political complexities facing cabinet formation.”
The statement concluded that the Future Movement “insists more than ever on adhering to the STL and its verdicts, no matter what they are. The days have proven that we have not objected to any of the tribunal’s decisions because truth and justice are our aim,” the statement said.