April 7, 2010 - Daily Star - STL denies reports that Bellemare close to resigning

The prosecution in the UN probe into the murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was forced on Tuesday to deny media reports claiming that the tribunal’s chief prosecutor was on the verge of quitting. L’Orient Le Jour reported Tuesday that Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) Chief Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare had informed UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon of his intention to leave the case should investigations become politicized. “Such claims are untrue,” Radhia Achouri, senior communications adviser to Bellemare said during an interview with LBCI television. She added that Bellemare “is as committed as ever to his mission.” Several attempts by The Daily Star to contact Achouri on Tuesday were not returned. The Central News Agency (CNA), quoting well-informed STL sources, party to administrative information from the Office of the Prosecutor, reported that Bellemare was intensifying his activities in seeking indictments. The sources added that media leaks were part of attempts to hinder the STL’s progress and warned that Bellemare could reveal the parties who have been hindering investigations, should he be forced into resigning, according to the CNA. Also on Tuesday, Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Walid Succariyeh told Al-Manar television that the STL represented a way for the US administration to exert pressure on Syria. The STL had been plagued by allegations of politicization since its inception in March 2009 and the Office of the Prosecutor has repeatedly refused to comment on matters relating to investigations. Last week, Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah delivered a speech in which he broached the subject of the STL’s questioning of several party members in connection with Hariri’s death. Nasrallah said however that all those interviewed were done so as witnesses and not suspects, contrary to previous reports. Several politicians, among them Tawheed Movement Leader Wi’am Wahhab, had voiced their concern over investigators involving Hizbullah members in lines of inquiry. The STL was set up to try the killers of billionaire and five-time-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated when his motorcade was hit by a massive car bomb as it traveled through Ain al-Mreisseh on Beirut’s seafront. Also killed were 22 others, including Hariri’s bodyguards. Blame for the killing has been laid by many at Damascus’ door but Syria has repeatedly denied involvement. A UN commission of inquiry said it found evidence to implicate Lebanese and Syrian intelligence services prior to the tribunal’s formation, although there are currently no suspects in custody. – The Daily Star