A UN report into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri demanded a new international investigation after determining that Lebanon's authorities bungled, if not outright manipulated, their probe of the killing.
The report did not directly blame Syria for the assassination of Hariri, an opponent of the Syrian presence in Lebanon, but said Damascus was behind the political tension and weak security that led to his death with 17 other people in a huge explosion on Feb. 14.
Power struggle
"Clearly, Mr. Hariri's assassination took place on the backdrop of his power struggle with Syria, regardless of who carried out the assassination and with what aim," the report said.
The UN-backed investigation, led by deputy Irish police commissioner Peter Fitzgerald, was launched to help get to the bottom of Hariri's killing.
Opposition leaders and foreign officials had feared he was killed for opposing pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, who was allowed to stay in office for another term after Parliament rewrote the constitution with Syria's approval.
Hariri had also supported Security Council Resolution 1559, which demanded Syria withdraw its forces from Lebanon. It also said the council hoped Lebanon's upcoming elections would be free of foreign influence -- a reference to Syria, which has held enormous political influence in Lebanon since its troops entered the country in 1976.
Withering criticism
While Fitzgerald's report accuses Syria of creating the conditions for Hariri's death, it reserves withering criticism for Lebanese authorities who handled the case.
The report says there was a "distinct lack of commitment" by the authorities to investigate the crime, and the probe was not carried out "in accordance with acceptable international standards."
It detailed a host of flaws, including the disappearance of crucial evidence and tampering with the scene of the blast that killed Hariri and at least 17 others.
Parts of a pickup truck were brought to the scene, placed in the crater and photographed as evidence, it said.
The report alleged investigative judges had no control over the probe and even faulted police for not turning off a water main that flooded the blast crater and washed away vital evidence.
Studying the aftermath of the bombing, Fitzgerald's team also cast serious doubts on the legitimacy of a suspect in the bombing.
Fitzgerald also faulted Syria for interfering in the governing of Lebanon "in a heavy-handed and inflexible manner."
Physical harm
He said his investigators also received testimony that Syrian President Bashar Assad had threatened Hariri and leading opposition figure Walid Jumblatt with physical harm.
Syria's UN Ambassador Fayssal Mekdad rejected the report, saying it contained "too much rhetoric."
He denied his country had any role in Hariri's assassination.
Fayssal called Hariri a "great ally of Syria" and instead blamed the UN Security Council for passing Resolution 1559.
"We think that things were going on well in Lebanon until a certain development that has taken place here in this building when one, two countries pushed the council to adopt a resolution that was not called for," Mekdad said.
In Washington, the State Department supported the recommendation for an international commission to investigate the attack.
In a letter accompanying the report, Annan expressed full support for the findings. He backed its recommendation for an international independent commission with the authority to interrogate witnesses, conduct searches and other tasks.
Lebanon's opposition and Hariri's family have insisted on an international investigation, saying they have no trust in the Lebanese probe.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
Two former Chilean ministers are among four candidates competing this weekend for the presidential nomination of the left ahead of November elections dominated by rising levels of violent crime. More than 15 million voters are eligible to choose today between former minister of labor Jeannette Jara, former minister of the interior Carolina Toha and two members of parliament, Gonzalo Winter and Jaime Mulet, to represent the left against a resurgent right. The primary is open to members of the parties within Chilean President Gabriel Boric’s ruling left-wing coalition and other voters who are not affiliated with specific parties. A recent poll by the
TENSIONS HIGH: For more than half a year, students have organized protests around the country, while the Serbian presaident said they are part of a foreign plot About 140,000 protesters rallied in Belgrade, the largest turnout over the past few months, as student-led demonstrations mount pressure on the populist government to call early elections. The rally was one of the largest in more than half a year student-led actions, which began in November last year after the roof of a train station collapsed in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing 16 people — a tragedy widely blamed on entrenched corruption. On Saturday, a sea of protesters filled Belgrade’s largest square and poured into several surrounding streets. The independent protest monitor Archive of Public Gatherings estimated the
Irish-language rap group Kneecap on Saturday gave an impassioned performance for tens of thousands of fans at the Glastonbury Festival despite criticism by British politicians and a terror charge for one of the trio. Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, has been charged under the UK’s Terrorism Act with supporting a proscribed organization for allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London in November last year. The rapper, who was charged under the anglicized version of his name, Liam O’Hanna, is on unconditional bail before a further court hearing in August. “Glastonbury,
RSS