UN investigators have identified a number of suspects who may
have been involved in the murder of former Lebanese premier Rafik
Hariri, the chief investigator reported Thursday.
In the eighth report of the International Independent
Investigation Commission (IIIC), Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz
said his team has recently undertaken a comprehensive consolidation
of information with regard to progress made in the
investigation.
The consolidation effort has "helped identify important aspects
and individuals of common interest across several areas of the
investigation," he wrote.
Investigators have identified "a number of persons of particular
interest who may have been involved in some aspect of the
preparation and execution of the attack on Rafik Hariri ... or
could have had prior knowledge that plans to carry out these
attacks were underway," he said.
"The commission will pursue this line of inquiry as a priority
in the coming months," he said.
His team has also "significantly narrowed down its investigation
into possible motives for the assassination to Hariri's political
activities and to his political and personal relationships with
political leaders and officials in Lebanon, Syria and other
countries, he said.
Brammertz noted with concern the recent "deterioration in the
political and security environment in Lebanon," which "is likely to
have a negative effect on the commission's activities in the coming
months."
But he said his team continued to "enjoy close and collegial
cooperation with the Lebanese authorities."
Syria and other states have continued to provide mostly positive
responses to his team's requests for assistance, he added.
He said the commission is working to "ensure a smooth hand-over
" of its work to a special tribunal for Lebanon, which was
established by the council on May 30 to prosecute suspects involved
in the Hariri and other cases.
Last month, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon began taking steps
and measures to formally establish the special tribunal of an
"international character."
The IIIC report, which has been sent to the UN Security Council
by the UN chief, also provides information on its inquiries into
other cases including the killing of the Lebanese lawmaker Walid
Eido, who was killed with seven others last month in an explosion
in Beirut.
Brammertz is expected to brief the Security Council on this
report next Thursday at the UN Headquarters in New York.
Hariri was killed in a massive car bombing in Beirut in February
2005 that also took the lives of 22 other people. The UN Security
Council set up the IIIC in April 2005 to spearhead the probe into
the case.
(Xinhua News Agency July 13, 2007)
