Naharnet - Saqr Accuses Sayyed of Leaking Fabricated Info on Hizbullah to Der Spiegel - September 20, 2010

MP Oqab Saqr on Monday accused former General Security Department chief Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed of fabricating the story published by German magazine Der Spiegel last year about the alleged involvement of Hizbullah in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination.

The report at the time had quoted sources close to the international tribunal and said it had examined internal documents.

"What was published by the German Der Spiegel was fabricated by Jamil Sayyed," Saqr said during a press conference.

"We don't want an apology from Hizbullah but we want the Lebanese to know … who spread the rumor" to Der Spiegel, the lawmaker said.

Last week, Saqr accused Sayyed of dispatching a man to Premier Saad Hariri asking for $15 million in return for giving up his case. "The mediator who asked for a financial settlement for Sayyed was Mustafa Nasser," the MP said during his press conference on Monday.

Saqr urged Hizbullah to beware and not to play with fire saying there were attempts to ignite Shiite-Sunni strife in the region, including Lebanon.

He also urged Nasrallah to "extend his arm" as Hariri has done and stop his "attempted coup" to avoid civil war.

Turning to the issue of false witnesses, Saqr said the March 14 forces want to know who fabricated them. Let Syrian authorities question Hussam Hussam, who is currently in Syria, to know who was behind him, the MP told Sayyed.