New Evidence Emerges In Hariri Assassination Case
A UN commission assigned to investigate the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has revealed new evidence relevant to the case. According to the latest report, the 11th on the subject, the commission “has acquired new information that may allow it to link additional individuals to the network that carried out the assassination.”
Hariri was killed along with 22 others in a truck bombing in 2005. The incident immediately sparked tension and conflict in Lebanon, particularly with neighboring Syria, whom many suspected of orchestrating or at least participating in the killing. The UN report seems to lend credence to this suspicion, with investigators citing the likely motive of the killing as Mr. Hariri’s vocal criticism of Syria’s military occupation of Lebanon. Earlier UN reports on the subject directly implicated senior Syrian officials, but the current report has refrained from explicitly naming any individual suspects. UN investigators did say that Syria’s cooperation was “generally satisfactory” throughout the investigation, although the government has continued to adamantly deny any responsibility for the assassination.
A UN special tribunal is scheduled to try the case beginning in March 2009.
Stefanie Demetriades
