| The Daily Star |
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BEIRUT: The U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon Thursday informed two Lebanese officials, who were targets of assassination attempts, of a link between their cases and the killing of former statesman Rafik Hariri, judicial sources told The Daily Star.
Former Defense Minister Elias Murr and MP Marwan Hamadeh were informed of the connection to the 2005 Hariri assassination by an STL delegation which met them separately at the Beirut office of State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza.
In October 2004, Hamadeh was targeted by a car bomb which left him seriously wounded, while Murr was targeted on July 12, 2005.
The delegation also met with journalist May Chidiac, the target of an assassination attempt on Sept. 25, 2005.
Chidiac told reporters after the meeting at the Justice Palace that the delegation had not informed her of a link between the assassination attempt against her and Hariri’s killing.
“So far, there has been no link between the assassination attempt on my life [and the Hariri assassination],” Chidiac told reporters, adding that the delegation informed her that the tribunal’s investigation into the assassination attempt on her life was ongoing.
She also said she had been told that there was a third case, along with that of Murr and Hamadeh, that has been linked to Hariri’s assassination, but refused to give details.
Judicial sources told The Daily Star that the STL delegation informed Lebanese authorities through Mirza that the cases of Murr and Hamadeh, in addition to the assassination of former Communist Party leader George Hawi, would now come under the jurisdiction of the STL and would be handled by the tribunal rather than the Lebanese judiciary.
Following his meeting with the delegation earlier Thursday, Murr said the link between the attempt on his life and the assassination of Hariri was “almost certain.”
“From what I heard during the meeting, I can say that it is very sad for Lebanon and for those who died,” Murr added. “Why did this happen?”
Hamadeh was tight-lipped following his meeting, saying only that he had “high hopes in the court and in the probe,” but would “commit to the confidentiality of the investigation.”
A source familiar with the probe into Hariri’s murder told The Daily Star last week that the STL was likely to release information linking the four indicted Hezbollah members to other assassination attempts on the lives of Lebanese figures around the same time.
The Hague-based court lifted confidentiality on the full names and aliases of the four Hezbollah suspects on July 29, a month after it handed Lebanon sealed indictments and arrest warrants for them.
Hezbollah has repeatedly denied involvement in the assassination of Hariri and has described the tribunal as part of conspiracy by the United States and Israel against the resistance group.
Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah has vowed that the party will not cooperate with the STL and said the four suspects would never be apprehended, “not even in 300 years.” Nasrallah said he expects the four will be indicted in absentia instead. – With additional reporting by Rima S. Aboulmona
Former Defense Minister Elias Murr and MP Marwan Hamadeh were informed of the connection to the 2005 Hariri assassination by an STL delegation which met them separately at the Beirut office of State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza.
In October 2004, Hamadeh was targeted by a car bomb which left him seriously wounded, while Murr was targeted on July 12, 2005.
The delegation also met with journalist May Chidiac, the target of an assassination attempt on Sept. 25, 2005.
Chidiac told reporters after the meeting at the Justice Palace that the delegation had not informed her of a link between the assassination attempt against her and Hariri’s killing.
“So far, there has been no link between the assassination attempt on my life [and the Hariri assassination],” Chidiac told reporters, adding that the delegation informed her that the tribunal’s investigation into the assassination attempt on her life was ongoing.
She also said she had been told that there was a third case, along with that of Murr and Hamadeh, that has been linked to Hariri’s assassination, but refused to give details.
Judicial sources told The Daily Star that the STL delegation informed Lebanese authorities through Mirza that the cases of Murr and Hamadeh, in addition to the assassination of former Communist Party leader George Hawi, would now come under the jurisdiction of the STL and would be handled by the tribunal rather than the Lebanese judiciary.
Following his meeting with the delegation earlier Thursday, Murr said the link between the attempt on his life and the assassination of Hariri was “almost certain.”
“From what I heard during the meeting, I can say that it is very sad for Lebanon and for those who died,” Murr added. “Why did this happen?”
Hamadeh was tight-lipped following his meeting, saying only that he had “high hopes in the court and in the probe,” but would “commit to the confidentiality of the investigation.”
A source familiar with the probe into Hariri’s murder told The Daily Star last week that the STL was likely to release information linking the four indicted Hezbollah members to other assassination attempts on the lives of Lebanese figures around the same time.
The Hague-based court lifted confidentiality on the full names and aliases of the four Hezbollah suspects on July 29, a month after it handed Lebanon sealed indictments and arrest warrants for them.
Hezbollah has repeatedly denied involvement in the assassination of Hariri and has described the tribunal as part of conspiracy by the United States and Israel against the resistance group.
Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah has vowed that the party will not cooperate with the STL and said the four suspects would never be apprehended, “not even in 300 years.” Nasrallah said he expects the four will be indicted in absentia instead. – With additional reporting by Rima S. Aboulmona
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