August 9, 2010 - Now Lebanon - Nasrallah unveils “Israeli footage” linked to Hariri’s murder

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah held a press conference on Monday to present evidence that he said should change the course of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s (STL) investigation of the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Nasrallah said in July that the STL will indict some of his party members and warned that the tribunal is an “Israeli project” aiming to incite domestic strife.

Nasrallah said in the press conference that an Israeli spy identified as Ahmad Nasrallah—who is not related to the Hezbollah leader—was dispatched by Israel in the early 1990s to tell former PM Rafik Hariri that Hezbollah was trying to kill him. As proof of his claims, Nasrallah broadcast a video showing Ahmad Nasrallah confessing to his actions.

The Hezbollah chief added that Ahmad Nasrallah was arrested in 1996 and released in 2000, after which he escaped to Israel through the southern border.

“We have to assume that Rafik Hariri at the time not only informed Syrian intelligence, but also told [countries friendly to him], including France,” said Nasrallah, adding, “This is how Israel was plotting from the beginning to link [Rafik] Hariri’s murder to Hezbollah.”

Nasrallah then said that Hezbollah captured an Israeli MK Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) before 1997, which they used to breach the footage of Israeli UAVs monitoring Lebanon.

“We decided to go back to archives we had since 2005 to see if we can intercept Israeli UAV footage of roads used by Rafik Hariri that could be targeted by Israel,” he said. Nasrallah added that this evidence proves that something was being prepared.

Footage was shown from Israeli UAVs filming the usual routes Rafik Hariri allegedly used to take in Beirut, Saida and Mount Lebanon.

According to Nasrallah, the UAV footage was not conclusive proof. However, he added that Hezbollah does not have any offices in the areas filmed by the Israeli planes.

Nasrallah also said that Hezbollah has evidence that Ghassan al-Jedd, an alleged Israeli spy who hosted Israeli operations teams, was present at the Rafik Hariri crime scene near the Saint George Hotel the day the former PM was murdered. However, he said that he will not disclose how Jedd’s activities were discovered.

A video shown on Jedd said that he became an Israeli spy in the early 1990s, before he escaped from Lebanon in 2009.

“We presented the evidence to the Lebanese authorities, but Jedd escaped from Lebanon before he was caught,” he added.

“We only want to show that Hezbollah is innocent, while there are others working day and night to ensure Israel comes out innocent,” Nasrallah added.