August 24, 2010 - ILoubnan - Hezbollah data on Hariri murder 'incomplete': UN

The UN tribunal probing the murder of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri said on Tuesday evidence Hezbollah provided allegedly implicating Israel was incomplete and called for the remaining material to be submitted "without delay."

Earlier this month, the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) requested Lebanese authorities submit all material related to the murder in the possession of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah after the Shiite leader unveiled "evidence" his arch-foe Israel played a role in the assassination. "The preliminary assessment of the DVDs has determined that the response is incomplete since the material that was handed over is limited to the material shown during the August 9, 2010 press conference and does not contain 'the rest of the evidence' that Mr Hassan Nasrallah referred to in his press conference," a statement released by STL prosecutor's office said, without saying what evidence was missing.

"The information received will be thoroughly assessed. This can properly be done only if it is based on a complete record," it added. "This is why the office of the prosecutor has requested the Lebanese authorities to provide the remaining material ... without delay." The statement said STL prosecutor Daniel Bellemare's Beirut office received six DVDs in an envelope from Hezbollah through the Lebanese prosecutor general's office on August 17.

Nasrallah has claimed Israel was behind the 2005 Beirut bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others.
On August 9, he produced several undated clips of aerial views of various areas in Lebanon that he alleged were intercepted from unmanned Israeli surveillance drones. The clips included footage of the site of the Hariri assassination, shot several years before the murder.

Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which fought a deadly 2006 war with Israel, is facing increasing pressure as rumours abound that the tribunal is set to accuse several of its members. Nasrallah has warned against implicating Hezbollah in the assassination, labeling the STL an "Israeli project."

The Hariri murder triggered an international outcry and led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon in April 2005 after a deployment of almost three decades. The killing has been widely blamed on Syria, but Damascus has consistently denied involvement.

The Hague-based tribunal was set up by a UN Security Council resolution in 2007 to find and try suspects in the assassination. There are currently no suspects in custody.