New Approach to Hariri Probe

Integrated Regional Information Network - New Approach to Hariri Probe, February 27, 2006

The first visit to Syria by Serge Brammertz, the new head of the UN investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri, signals a new approach in Damascus' dealings with the UN commission, analysts say. The one day visit took place on 23 February. “The Syrians are now saying they have another way of dealing with the parameters of the investigation,” said Syrian political analyst Ayman Abdel-Nour. Abdel-Nour suggested that a recent cabinet reshuffle and changes made to Syria's own judicial inquiry into the Hariri killing were a signal that Damascus would attempt to keep a low profile in its dealings with the UN in the months ahead. The previous approach saw Damascus holding a number of high-profile press conferences to refute the UN's findings and question the legitimacy of key witnesses interviewed by former head investigator Detlev Mehlis. The 11 February reshuffle saw former Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara, who has yet to meet the UN commission request for questioning, appointed as vice president. In addition, Nabil Khateeb was appointed the new head of the Syrian inquiry into the Hariri assassination while Ibrahim Daraji was removed as the inquiry's spokesman. “They’ve agreed with investigator Brammertz to keep things in secret,” said Abdel-Nour. UN commission spokeswoman in Beirut Nasra Hassan, contacted by IRIN, said Brammertz had held “a working meeting” on his first trip to Syria which had been “constructive”. “It was a good meeting…that focused on cooperation on pending, new and future requests,” she said. Brammertz, the Belgian prosecutor who took over from Mehlis in January as head of the UN commission, met with Syria's new Foreign Minister Waleed Mualem for a few hours on Thursday for talks that focused “on ways to guarantee the success of the commission's work,” according to SANA. The independent ‘syrianews’ website reported that Brammertz had met with Ahmed Arnous, an assistant to Mualem; Nabil Khateeb, former justice minister and new head of the Syrian inquiry; and Riad Daoudi, the legal advisor to the foreign affairs ministry. Officials from the ministries of information, justice and foreign affairs, however, were unwilling to comment on the meeting. Rafik Hariri was the target of a fatal car bomb on 14 February 2005. Mehlis released two reports last year. The first, made public in October, stated that the decision to kill Hariri “could not have been taken without the approval of top-ranked Syrian security officials”. Damascus, however, denies any role in the killing, and has refused a UN request to question President Bashar al-Assad. In a surprise visit, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters in Beirut on Thursday that Syria must give its “full cooperation” to the probe. UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1664, issued in December, threatened Damascus with “further action” in the absence of unconditional cooperation. Rice's visit, devised to show support for Lebanon, was not announced beforehand for security reasons. A string of assassinations of anti-Syrian figures followed the Hariri assassination last year. Syria was the dominant power in Lebanon for three decades after intervening in 1976 in its smaller neighbour's civil war. Syrian troops withdrew last April following UNSC Resolution 1559, issued in September 2004, which called for all remaining foreign forces to withdraw from Lebanon. The withdrawal also came in the wake of domestic and international pressure following the Hariri assassination. Meanwhile, two Lebanese judges went to United Nations headquarters in New York on Thursday to discuss a proposed international tribunal to try suspects in the killing, a Justice Ministry source said. “We're waiting for the alternatives and will choose one and present it to the council of ministers,” the source said, adding that a decision was expected within weeks. Resolution 1644 also called for a “tribunal of international character” into the killing, at Beirut's behest.

Sentinelle - Audition de cinq responsables syriens à Vienne, 4 décembre 2005

Sentinelle - Audition de cinq responsables syriens à Vienne, 4 décembre 2005

Sabrina RAHMANI

Le 25 novembre 2005, M. Detlev Mehlis, chef de la commission d’enquête sur l’assassinat de l’ex-premier ministre libanais Rafic Hariri, a confirmé qu’un accord a été trouvé avec les autorités syriennes afin de mener les interrogatoires de cinq responsables syriens au siège de l’ONU à Vienne. Pour le chef du gouvernement libanais, M. Fouad Siniora, cet accord est positif. Concernant les dates des interrogatoires, celles-ci seront fixées à la suite de contacts à venir avec la Commission d’enquête Les Nations Unies ont confirmé cet accord et M. Mehlis en a informé le Secrétaire général de l’ONU, M. Kofi Anan

Lors d’une conférence de presse, le vice-ministre syrien des affaires étrangères, M. Walid Mouallem, a déclaré que « la direction syrienne avait décidé d’accepter que les cinq syriens soient interrogées au bureau de l’ONU à Vienne, comme l’avait proposé la commission d’enquête internationale ».Il a déclaré que cet accord est un compromis. M. Mehlis l'avait proposé au conseiller juridique du ministère syrien des Affaires étrangères, M. Riad Daoudi lors de leur rencontre le 18 novembre à Barcelone, en Espagne. Il a ajouté que cet accord était le résultat de négociation avec la commission après que Damas ait obtenu des garanties sur le respect de sa souveraineté. Il a aussi précisé qu’aux termes de l’accord, les cinq responsables syriens,dont ils refusent de donner l’identité au nom du secret de l’instruction, seront accompagnés de représentants légaux et regagneront Damas après avoir été interrogés dans la capitale autrichienne.

Toutefois, afin d’avoir la possibilité de faire arrêter les suspects, M. Mehlis avait insisté pour pouvoir interroger les six responsables syriens au Liban, mais Damas s’y opposait .Les autorités syriennes avaient tout tenté pour que l’audition des responsables syriens se fasse à leurs conditions. Pour refuser que les témoins soient entendus au siège de la Commission d’enquête, dans la banlieue de Beyrouth, comme l’exigeait M. Mehlis, elles ont invoqué des questions de dignité ainsi que l’intérêt du Liban et de la Syrie. Elles ont proposé des locaux de l’ONU à Damas, ou de la force de l’ONU pour l’observation du désengagement sur le Golan, le siège de la ligue arabe. Elles aussi demandé la négociation d’un protocole de coopération juridique entre leur Commission d’enquête et la Commission internationale. Finalement, des négociations ont été engagées pour que les interrogatoires soient effectués en terrain neutre.

De plus, la Syrie avait demandé que les suspects soient interrogés sur son territoire et en présences de leurs avocats, dans un projet de protocole présente à l’ONU. Ce projet préconisait que les enquêteurs de l’ONU partagent leurs conclusions avec la commission d’investigation syrienne. Mais ces conditions ont été jugées inacceptables par le magistrat allemand, M Mehlis et plusieurs Etats membres du Conseil de sécurité. M. Kofi Anan, a rejeté aussi la demande du chef de la diplomatie syrienne, le sollicitant à intervenir auprès de M. Mehlis et de contribuer à négocier un protocole de négociations.

Par ailleurs, cet accord entre Damas et l’ONU sur le choix de Vienne comme lieu d’interrogatoires des responsables syriens, intervient presque un mois après que le Conseil de sécurité ait adopté, le 31 octobre 2005, la résolution 1636 demandant à la Syrie de coopérer dans l’enquête internationale et prévoyant des sanctions individuelles contre les suspects. La résolution demandait aussi à la Syrie d’arrêter les responsables syriens ou toute personne soupçonnée d’être impliquée dans l’assassinat, et de les mettre pleinement à la disposition de la Commission. Ce déblocage survient aussi 20 jours avant l’expiration du mandat de la Commission d’enquête internationale, prévue le 15 décembre 2005, date à laquelle M. Mehlis doit rendre son rapport au Conseil de sécurité des Nations Unies.

The Security Council Resolution on Syria Is a Pretext for the Bombing and Occupation of Syria ; The Resolution Is in Violation of the UN Charter

Center for Research on Globalization - The Security Council Resolution on Syria Is a Pretext for the Bombing and Occupation of Syria ; The Resolution Is in Violation of the UN Charter, November 2, 2005

By Niloufer Bhagwat
Rafik Harari died in a manner which anyone who has humanity would not want any individual to die, and it is conceded he was a former Prime Minister. Does that justify an investigation by the Secretary General of the United Nations and a Resolution by the Security Council, when the pogroms committed by the Phalangists and Israel army in conspiracy with General Aaron Sharon have never been investigated, even though it took place during an international conflict and the occupation of Lebanon. Are the lives of the Palestinian refugees who were brualy killed, raped, mutilated any less important than that of Rafik Hariri and which provision of the UN Charter says so? The world has witnessed the killings by bomb blasts of Indian citizens from 1993 including in Kashmir, Delhi, Mumbai in scores of places with a death toll of thousands of citizens killed and maimed by covert agencies in India. The bombings mysteriously coincided invariably with some sharpening crisis of some nature or the other or of impending pogroms against minorities or other sections. Yet UN probe was never ordered and there is no resolution of the Security Council on bomb blasts in India, the Philippines or Indonesia. Recently no less a person than a former Minister of Indonesia has claimed that the Indonesian military had covert links with those perpetrating the blasts at Bali. Earlier, junior military officers in the Philippines had made similar allegations against some of the highest in the political leadership of their country. The United Nations Charter explicitly and implicitly prohibits interference in the internal affairs and criminal investigations in any country, the only exception possible would be War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity as defined by the Nuremberg principles perpetrated by any government, including the permanent members of the Security Council. Apart from this exception the sovereignty of every nation, society or people is guaranteed by the UN Charter and no country in the conduct of its criminal investigation can be influenced or pressurized by the permanent or elected members of the Security Council without this constituting an undue interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation. To illustrate the diabolical nature of the double standards the series of covert political assassinations carried out by some of the permanent and other governments in the Security Council have been open knowledge the world over. The assassination of President Allende in Chile is one example, where the UN and all the members of the Security Council continued to deal with the murderous Pinochet regime. The same General Pinochet is now indicted for receiving funds and other largesse from American Banks and other financial institutions claiming age in defence. The role of Henry Kissinger in that assassination was carefully documented by impeccable American sources, and yet neither has Henry Kissinger been indicted nor anyone associated with the conspiracy to murder the innocent and install in Chile a government favorable to US - UK Corporations and finance capital. In India two Prime Ministers were brually assassinated. Indira Gandhi in 1984 while in office and Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, while leader of the opposition was killed by a suicide bomber mid way through an election , an act of covert agencies and terrorist organizations acting in a covert conspiracy . The Inquiry Commission inquiring into the assassination has held that it is necessary to further investigate the conspiracy and conspirators behind the suicide bomber as these have not been unmasked. Prior to the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi a leading member of a terrorist organization sheltered in the UK announced on BBC that Mrs.Indira Gandhi should be killed. Neither the Secretary General of the United Nations nor the Security Council directed an investigation into the International conspiracy to assassinate Mrs Indira Gandhi despite prima facie evidence on record that the funds and training were being received by these covert organizations from the UK and across the Atlantic. Similarly it cannot be forgotten that an urgent message was sent to the late Rajiv Gandhi by the late Yasser Arafat that there was a covert plot to assassinate him, which came to pass. The fact that Yasser Arafat communicated the existence of this covert conspiracy would reveal that Mossad could not be very far from this plot, as a former Mossad agent has admitted in a controversial book that more than one side to the fratricide in Sri Lanka were trained by Mossad in Israel including sections of the LTTE .We have the example of the Kanishka aircraft which was bombed with hundreds of Indian and other passengers on board killed with the failure of Canadian Intelligence to conduct a public inquiry or to indict covert organizations being funded and operated from Canada, with a highly compromised trial satisfying none of the surviving relatives as comprehensive and thorough; yet the Security Council of the United Nations despite the hundreds of lives lost did not indict the government of Canada and put it on notice that those responsible must be proceeded against in the alternative Canada could be subjected to sanctions . Can one Rafiq Harari whose assassination however brutal be given greater primacy over the murder of hundreds and thousands of citizens in covert International and national incidents which the UN Security Council has never cared to investigate even though when they have taken place across international boundaries as in the Kanishka crash, during wars of occupation as in the case of Sabra and Chatilla , in Kashmir and those killed in coups and counter coups by external forces in Latin America and other places . No inquiry has taken place as to how Ahmed Shah Massood of the Nothern Alliance was murdered in Afghanistan two days before 9/11. An innocent Brazilian was recently murdered by the police in England and there has been no Resolution on the UK by the Security Council and no international investigation by a prosecutor into the suspicious London bomb blasts and no possibility of sanctions against the UK, India, Indonesia, Philippines or other countries where scoresof innocent citizens are being killed by bomb blasts. The 9/11 tragedy remains a mystery with no UN investigation and no Security Council Resolution though thousands died in one incident alone and we are now informed of "Able Danger " and the implications of the controlled demolitions of the towers by explosives and not by aircraft. For the last few years since 1993 in tandem with the neoliberal globalization program imposing a creeping economic death sentence on several classes of Indian society including weavers, peasants, workers, petty traders, bomb blasts have been occurring in different cities of the Indian Union on ordinarly citizens with covert agencies operating, leaving thousands killed and maimed including Kashmiris in the State of Jammu and Kashmir including sections of the middle classes and working people in Mumbai , New Delhi , Tamil Nad, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, among other cities . Despite the fact that this discloses a complete and abject failure of more than one national party in power at the Centre and in the States where the bomb blasts have taken place the Security Council has not appointed an international inquiry to protect the lives of the Indian people against these covert attacks from allegedly terrorist organizations operating from inside India or from outside India and not a single government has resigned acknowledging responsibility in not being able to secure the right to life of the citizen of India a basic function of government. The propoganda systems national and International have broked down, no one believes the Goebelsian news reports, the Security Council and IAEA are seen to be aiding and abetting invasions and occupations. Even war can no longer camouflage the civlizational collapse when it is necessary to kill innocent men, women and children for systems to survive. On the murder of Rafiq Hariri the central question asked in any crime is a simple one:" Who benefits?" The answer is that the murder of Rafiq Hariri benefits those corporations controlling governments who desire to militarily invade yet another country of the region vital for control of hydrocarbon resources and pipelines and for that purpose secured withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon a country which was radically severed from Syria by the elite classes of the big powers, in what has been the " Great Game " of redrawing artificially the maps of countries and societies in the age of Imperialism and now in its new camouflage neoliberal globalization in the tradition of Cecil Rhodes who recommended colonization as a policy to prevent revolution at home in societies increasingly polarized. For governments like Syria who attempted for decades to comply with various and diverse requests of the Imperial powers, there is a lesson, which is no one is spared not even yesterday's ally. Despite tight rope walking every single leader, the government and its members are dispensable in a brutal game which recognizes no one and makes not a single concession to humanity. Many leaders erstwhile friends and allies of the US-UK corporations will follow Saddam Hussain either to trial or to the grave including those who collaborated in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, former Yugoslavia, Iran, Pakistan, India and anywhere else... All the perfumes of Arabia cannot cleanse this blood of innocent humanity.