Region | Lebanon

Mehlis asserts inquiry will continue

The chief UN investigator into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri said yesterday the search for the killers will continue despite his stepping down this week

  • AP
  • Published: 23:31 May 3, 2009
  • Gulf News

Beirut: The chief UN investigator into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri said yesterday the search for the killers will continue despite his stepping down this week.

Speaking at a farewell luncheon hosted by Lebanon's justice minister, Detlev Mehlis said he was leaving Lebanon in much better shape than he found it when his commission began in June, and rejected the Syrian allegation that his interim findings were "politicised."

"The most important thing is that the victims [families] are happy with the investigation," Mehlis said of the hunt for those responsible for the massive truck bomb that killed Hariri and 20 other people in central Beirut on February 14. "They think it is being done in a fair way, and I haven't heard a bad word from their part."

Mehlis is to submit a second interim report to the UN Security Council this week.

UN report in full (PDF format)

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