Criminals killed Lebanon’s ex-PM, Canadian chief investigator tells UN

In his
first report to the United Nations, Canadian chief investigator Daniel
Bellemare said that a criminal network is responsible for the murder of
former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, and others killed in a
wave of deadly attacks.

But the long-awaited list of suspects in
the 2005 assassination of Hariri was absent from the report, and
Bellemare called for patience to give his independent UN commission
time to complete its work.

“The commission can now confirm, on
the basis of available evidence, that a network of individuals acted in
concert,” said the report, sent to the UN Security Council yesterday.
And it added, the “Hariri network” is also linked to some of 20 other
murder cases.

Although the probe is moving too slowly for some
victims’ families – as well as opponents of Syria, who accuse the
former occupying country of silencing a prominent critic – the wheels
of justice are grinding too quickly for others.

While Bellemare
continues his investigations, he is a crucial step closer to taking his
place as prosecutor of a new Special Tribunal for Lebanon, based at The
Hague, Netherlands. This week, the UN announced it had secured more
than $60 million to launch the court, and the Dutch government had
offered a rent-free headquarters.

Hariri was one of 23 people who
died in a Beirut suicide bombing three years ago. Since his
assassination, 61 people have been killed and close to 500 injured in
violence that has undermined the country, which had barely recovered
from a catastrophic civil war when it was caught in a conflict between
Israel and the Hezbollah militia.

The tribunal that will bring
justice to murder victims cannot get in gear until the investigation
yields results. Bellemare said its priority is to gather more
information about the network, its scope and participants, as well as
identifying the still-unknown suicide bomber sent to attack Hariri.

But
he admitted a “deteriorating security environment” in Lebanon is making
the work harder. A political power struggle to elect a new president
has sparked violent street clashes and shootings.

The
investigation has stoked the smouldering unrest. The former head of the
investigation, Serge Brammertz, pointed to Hariri’s support for a UN
resolution demanding withdrawal of Syria and other foreign troops from
Lebanon as a possible motive for his killing.

Bellemare said
investigators had made one trip to Syria, and that the probe had
“generally satisfactory co-operation” from Damascus.

Lebanon’s
largest political faction, Hezbollah, has been linked with Syria as
well as Iran. The country is split among majority Shiite, Sunni and
Christian factions that have shared power uneasily since the end of the
civil war in 1989.

The commission’s June 15 mandate could be extended if not enough progress has been made.

“The
commission has continued to prepare for the transition to the Special
Tribunal for Lebanon, bearing in mind that terrorist investigations are
lengthy and complex,” said the Bellemare report.

Source: The Star

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