Region | Lebanon
Former Lebanese premier was assassinated by criminal network
Former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated by a criminal network that is linked to other terrorist attacks in Lebanon, the chief UN investigator into the matter said Friday.
- AP
- Published: 00:58 March 29, 2008
United Nations: Former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated by a criminal network that is linked to other terrorist attacks in Lebanon, the chief UN investigator into the matter said Friday.
In his first report to the UN Security Council, Daniel Bellemare said that a so-called "Hariri Network" conducted surveillance of Hariri and that some continued to operate after he was killed along with 22 others in a 2005 bombing in Beirut.
Bellemare said the commission would not disclose any names to preserve confidentiality.
"Names of individuals will only appear in future indictments filed by the prosecutor, when there is sufficient evidence to do so," he said.
Bellemare said that the first priority of the investigating commission he heads is to gather more evidence about the network, its scope, the identity of all its participants, their role in other attacks and links with people outside the network.
Four pro-Syrian Lebanese generals have been under arrest for almost two years for alleged involvement in the murder. Syria denies any involvement in Hariri's assassination, but the furor over the attack forced Syrian troops to withdraw from Lebanon after a 29-year presence.
Bellemare said Syria's cooperation with the commission "continues to be generally satisfactory."
The commission has been providing technical assistance to Lebanese authorities in 20 other "terrorist attacks" that have killed 61 people and wounded at least 494 others, he said.
In the coming months, Bellemare said, the commission also will focus on identifying links between the Hariri network and the other attacks it is helping to investigate.
The chief investigator said the commission also has pursued its investigation into the identification of the suicide bomber.
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