Daily Star - Mixed reports on whether Hariri killing re-enactment to proceed - Friday, September 10, 2010

BEIRUT: Confusion shrouded the intention of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) to re-enact the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in France, as Hizbullah on Thursday repeated calls for the court to try false witnesses.

The political daily As-Safir reported that France had cancelled a planned re-enactment of the blast that killed five-time Premier Hariri, amid concern over the country’s relationship with Hizbullah.

“France is moving toward cancelling the re-enactment of [Hariri’s] assassination,” the paper quoted an unidentified French security source as saying. It added that a French engineering firm had already finished constructing a stage designed to recreate the St. George area of Downtown through which Hariri’s motorcade passed in the seconds before a car bomb detonated on February 14, 2005.

Television channel LBC, however, reported Thursday that France had denied any plans to call off the reconstruction.

As-Safir’s Paris correspondent, Mohammad Balout, told his paper that the decision to scrap the re-enactment, originally scheduled for September 27, came in the context of France’s stance on Hizbullah.

“French security sources are pressing to cancel the re-enactment on French territory, so it would not be interpreted as a French political decision to support any indictment targeting Hizbullah members,” he said.

“There is debate among security and diplomatic circles about the possibility of going back on the decision, especially because the crime scene has already been built and that … going back on the decision would reflect negatively on France’s reputation and commitment to the UN,” Balout added.

The UN court was established to try the killers of Hariri but has been plagued by setbacks since its inception such as accusations of politicization, a succession of high-profile resignations and the issue of false witnesses.

Lebanon’s Hizbullah has repeatedly called for false witnesses such as Mohammad Zuheir Siddiq to stand trial; Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare has said they are no longer of interest to investigators.

Hizbullah politburo member Mohammad Qomati, in remarks published Thursday, called the STL to undertake a “bold and brave step that puts an end to those attempting to defend the false witnesses,” a position echoed by Hizbullah second-in-command Sheikh Naim Qassem.

“There is no politeness in this case. It is time to hold the culprits accountable, regardless of their religion and sect,” Qassem said, adding: “We are waiting for the executive mechanism that will be decided by the Cabinet after [Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar] gives his opinion.”

Hizbullah’s secretary general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said in a speech to mark Quds (Arabic for Jerusalem) Day last week that the party would not cooperate with the STL, after Bellemare asked for data which Hizbullah claimed showed Israeli surveillance footage of the route Hariri’s motorcade took before his death.

Prosecutor Bellemare said that the video was worthy of “serious analysis.”

On Monday Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who in the immediate aftermath of his father’s death, blamed Syria for the bombing, admitted that “a mistake” had been made in laying culpability at Damascus’s door.

The “political accusation” prompted a withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon following three decades of military influence.

Hariri also suggested that false witnesses should be dealt with, a development welcomed by Qomati.

“These stands, even though they are a bit late, will serve to place the political rhetoric on the right track regarding the international investigation,” he told Kuwati daily Al-Anbaa.

Thursday saw the arrival of STL Deputy Prosecutor General Jocelyn Tabet into Beirut, although the purpose of her visit was unannounced.

“I have no knowledge of her travel arrangements,” a court spokesperson told The Daily Star. – Additional reporting by Carol Rizk.