Wiam Wahhab bombshell: Sharon killed Hariri with USA green light -Updated

عملاء للمخابرات الأميركية والفرنسية يتحدثون: هكذا تم اغتيال الرئيس رفيق الحريري

كتاب يؤكد اغتيال الحريري بصاروخ إسرائيلي مشحون باليورانيوم المنضب

وكالة أوقات الشام الإخبارية

في برنامج “مع الحدث”، الذي بثته “المنار” مساء الجمعة الماضي،عرض النائب والوزير اللبناني السابق وئام وهاب كتابا بعنوان “النفاق الأميركي”لمؤلفه “الدكتور عمران أدهم”،مشيرا إلى أنه حصل على نسخة من الكتاب من أدهم نفسه عبر التراسل الخاص معه،بالنظر لأن الكتاب لن يوزع في الأسواق قبل أسبوع من الآن، حيث جرت طباعة نصف مليون نسخة منه في فرنسا. وقد قرأ وهاب مقاطع من الكتاب تتعلق بملابسات اغتيال رفيق الحريري من قبل إسرائيل، وبمعرفة الولايات المتحدة، بوساطة صاروخ صغير مشحون باليورانيوم المنضب، بينما استخدمت السيارة المفخخة التي فجرت بالتزامن مع مرور موكب الحريري لغرض التضليل وحسب.

كان لافتا أن وهاب تجنب التعريف بشخصية “عمران عبد الرزاق أدهم”، وهذا اسمه الكامل، سوى القول إنه “رجل أعمال كبير من أصل عربي يعيش في الولايات المتحدة” وإنه “كان مرشحا ليشغل رئيس حكومة في بلده”، دون أن يذكر أية معلومات أخرى بشأنه! ذلك رغم أن تسعة أعشار من كانوا يسمعونه، وربما كلهم تقريبا، كما أستطيع الجزم، لا يعرفون هذا الرجل ولم يسمعوا به من قبل. بل أستطيع الجزم أنه من ما حرف موجود عنه على شبكة الإنترنت إلا الذي كتبته أنا شخصيا منذ سنوات طويلة، قبل 14 عاما، ثم في العام 2008 وما بعد، بسبب ارتباط اسمه بوقائع ومناسبات ذات صلة كنت أتابعها!( يمكن التأكد من ذلك من خلال كتابة عبارة “عمران أدهم، البارك الشرقي” على محرك البحث “غوغل” للثتبت من ذلك!).
عمران أدهم ، وهذا ما لم يرد وئام وهاب أن يعرفه جمهور المشاهدين، رجل أعمال سوري الأصل يعيش في الخارج (لاسيما في فرنسا والولايات المتحدة) منذ نهاية ستينيات القرن الماضي، وتحديدا بعد وصول التيار اليساري إلى السلطة في العام 1966 بقيادة صلاح جديد. 

وهو حصل لاحقا على الجنسيتين الفرنسية والأمريكية، وأصبح منذ حوالي 30 عاما أحد أكبر تجار السلاح في العالم، وأحد أكبر عملاء وكالة المخابرات المركزية الأميركية والمخابرات الفرنسية، فضلا عن علاقته الوثيقة بإسرائيل ، قبل ذلك وبعده. 

وكان لعب أواسط الثمانينيات الماضية دورا سريا بطلب من المخابرات الفرنسية والرئيس فرانسوا ميتيران لإطلاق سراح الرهائن الفرنسيين في لبنان، حيث كانت تتهم مجموعات تابعة لإيران بالوقوف وراء اختطافهم. وقد حصلت إيران ، جراء وساطته، على أسلحة أميركية وفرنسية( لاسيما صواريخ مضادة للدبابات والسفن البحرية من طراز “إكزوسيتEXOLET ” التي جرى بيعها ـ صوريا وعلى الورق فقط ـ إلى دولة في أمريكا الجنوبية، بينما جرى نقلها عمليا إلى إيران).

من المؤكد أنه لا وئام وهاب ولا قناة”المنار” التي استضافته، ولا سامي كليب الذي سينشر عرضا للكتاب فور صدوره، كما هو متوقع منه بالنظر لاعتياده على ذلك، يعرفون أن مشغّل “عمران أدهم” لصالح وكالة المخابرات المركزية الأميركية هو المدعو” ديفيد وين David Wayne”. وهو كان إلى حين تقاعده قبل بضعة أشهر أحد أبرز ضباط وكالة المخابرات المركزية من الصف أو النسق الثاني، أي الضباط الذين يشرفون على التنفيذ الميداني لمخططات وكالة المخابرات المركزية كالاغتيالات وتوريد الأسلحة للعصابات السرية وتنفيذ الانقلابات وصناعة الثورات “الربيعية” و”الملونة”، وما إلى ذلك من أعمال إجرامية دولية ليس لدى الوكالة ما تفخر به سواها!

من هنا، أي من الموقع الاستخباري والمافيوزي الذي شغله ويشغله عمران أدهم منذ حوالي أربعين عاما، ومن معرفته بكبار صانعي القرار في الغرب وفي الشرق الأوسط، تأتي أهمية كتابه بشأن اغتيال الحريري، وقضيا ذات صلة بالإجرام الأمريكي في المنطقة.

ما هو أهم من ذلك هو أن الكتاب يعتمد على شهادات مسلجة بالصوت لكل من “ديفيد وين”، المذكور أعلاه، ولشخص أكثر شهرة يدعى “جون بيركنز” صاحب كتاب ” اعترافات قاتل اقتصادي مأجور” الذي صدر في العام 2004. وكان “جون بيركنز” يتعاون مع “وكالة الأمن القومي الأميركية” في عملية تنفيذ “اغتيالات اقتصادية” عبر العالم لصالح الوكالة المشار إليها. وتقوم هذه الاغتيالات على فكرة توريط بلدان معينة بالديون حتى الاختناق، من خلال الاعتماد على عملاء مثل رفيق الحريري وفؤاد السنيورة و عبد الله الدردري، ثم تصفيتهم لاحقا.

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ويسرد “جون بيكنز” في كتابه تجربته الإجرامية عبر العالم، فضلا عن تجربة زملاء سابقين له ، اعتمادا على وثائق الأمن القومي الأمريكية، والتي تطال طيفا واسعا من العمليات، بدءا من تصفية رئيس الوزراء الإيراني “محمد مصدق” في خمسينيات القرن الماضي، وصولا إلى تصفية زعماء ورجال أعمال في أمريكا اللاتينية، مرورا باغتيال الملك السعود فيصل بن عبد العزيز!

وطبقا لإفادتي “ديفيد أوين” و”جون بيركنز”، فإن القرار باغتيال رفيق الحريري اتخذه آرييل شارون شخصيا في العام 2004 خلال فترة رئاسته للحكومة الإسرائيلية. وكانت عملية الاغتيال مخططة من قبل “الموساد” لتنفذ وفق أحد اثنين من السيناريوهات، أولهما في إحدى الدول الأوربية، والثاني في إحدى الدول العربية. إلا أن شارون حسم الأمر وقرر تنفيذ العملية داخل بيروت.

وطبقا لإفادتي الرجلين، فإن اللجنة الأمنية السياسة الإسرائيلية التي أعدت تقريرا حول “خطر الحريري” على إسرائيل، رأت أن “خطره” يكمن في مجالين:

أولهما المجال الاقتصادي المرتبط بالنفط والغاز في المياه الاقتصادية اللبنانية، التي كانت إسرائيل أعدت دراسات جدوى بشأنها منذ وقت مبكر. وقد تضمن التقرير معطيات تفيد بأن تمكن لبنان من وضع يده على حقول النفط والغاز الواقعة ما بين لبنان وقبرص سيمكن هذا الأخير من منافسة إسرائيل والتسبب لها بأذى بالغ، لاسيما في ظل وجود رئيس حكومة مثل الحريري يتمتع بعلاقات واسعة مع الغرب، لاسيما فرنسا.

وما لا يذكره الكتاب في هذا السياق هو أن لبنان كان منذ العام 2000على علم، من خلال جهات فرنسية سياسية وعلمية، بأن مياهه الإقليمية والاقتصادية تحتوي على كميات هائلة من النفط والغاز. ومن المعلوم أن لبنان، ورغم قيام إسرائيل باستثمار حقولها الغازية البحرية عمليا، لا يزال “ممنوعا”عليه القيام بالمثل،بسبب “الفيتو” السعودي الذي يضعه النظام الصهيوني في السعودية على الحكومة اللبنانية بطلب من من إسرائيل والولايات المتحدة وفرنسا، حيث لا يستطيع أي رئيس وزراء لبناني الخروج على طاعة السعودية ،على اعتبار أن العرف السائد في لبنان هو أن”رئيس الحكومة مسلم سني يجري تعيينه من قبل السعودية”!

السبب الثاني الذي دفع شارون لاتخاذ قرار بتصفية الحريري،وفق إفادتي “ديفيد وين” و”جون بيركينز”، هو علاقته العضوية بحزب الله وأمينه العام.فقد رأى شارون أن الحريري يقدم غطاء سياسيا لمنظمة “إرهابية” في المحافل الدولية، واستطاع أن يقنع العديد من صانعي القرار في الغرب بأن حزب الله “هو حركة تحرر وطني وليس منظمة إرهابية”.

ومن المعلوم أن الحريري كان يجتمع أسبوعيا مع نصر الله للتنسيق فيما بينهما على قاعدة “التقاسم الوظيفي”:يتولى حزب الله الجانب الأمني والعسكري بالاشتراك مع سوريا، فيما يتولى الحريري الجانب الاقتصادي.

مقابلة مع مستشار الرئيسين رفيق الحريري

الإسرائيليون، وطبقا للإفادتين،عمدوا إلى إبلاغ كوندوليزا رايس،مستشارة الأمن القومي الأميركي في حينه، بقرارهم ومن خلالها الرئيس الأميركي جورج بوش. وقد سارع بوش إلى استشارة أبيه، الرئيس السابق، حول ما إذا كان مناسبا تورط الولايات المتحدة بعملية من هذا النوع. لكن رأي بوش الأب كان سلبيا،بالنظر لما يمكن أن تخلفه العملية من تداعيات على العلاقات مع فرنسا / شيراك ومع السعودية،فضلا عن تداعياتها الأمنية. وبناء على ذلك قرر بوش الأب عدم التورط في الجريمة.

لكن رايس تمكنت لاحقا من انتزاع موافقة الرئيس على ذلك، بعد أن شرحت له عوائدها السياسية الكبيرة، لاسيما بعد أن يجري إلصاقها بحزب الله وسوريا وإقناع الرئيس جاك شيراك والسعودية بهذا “الإخراج”، والتي ليس أقلها اتهام الشيعة بقتل رئيس حكومة سني، وهو ما سيفجر الصراع بين الطائفتين،ويؤدي إلى ضعضعة مكانة حزب الله والنظام السوري،وانسحاب هذا الأخير من لبنان تحت ضغط الشارع (2).

حين جرى الاتفاق بين الإسرائيليين والأمريكيين على السيناريو، طلبت إسرائيل من الولايات المتحدة خدمة تقنية، وهي تعطيل أجهزة التنصت والمراقبة الأجنبية في منطقة الحوض الشرقي للبحر الأبيض المتوسط ، للحيلولة دون اكتشاف أمر الطائرة الإسرائيلية من دون طيار التي ستقوم بالعملية.

تصل الإفادتان في النهاية إلى أن عملية الاغتيال نفذت من خلال طائرة بدون طيار أطلقت قذيفة واحدة صغيرة مشحونة باليورانيوم المنضب على سيارة الحريري ، بينما جرى تفجير سيارة شاحنة “ميتسوبيشي” في الموكب في اللحظة نفسها من أجل التضليل. هذا بينما كانت طائرة أواكس أميركية تحلق في المنطقة وتقوم بتعطيل أجهزة التنصت الأجنبية.

ومن المعلوم أن الأمين العام لحزب الله كان أول من كشف في متؤتمره الصحفي “التقني”الشهير حول القضية( آب 2010). وقد عرض فيه شريطا خاصا يؤكد أن طائرة إسرائيلية بدون طيار كانت تراقب مسار موكب الحريري قبل اغتياله.

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السيد حسن نصر الله يعرض معطيات إغتيال الحريري

ما يسرده الكتاب، المرتقب صدوره الأسبوع القادم، يتضمن تفاصيل كثيرة حول القضية، سياسية وأمنية وتقنية. إلا أن ما تقدم يشكل زبدتها. والواقع ، وبحكم تعاوني مع “لجنة التحقيق الدولية في اغتيال الحريري” و “مكتب المدعي العام في المحكمة” التي ورثت عمل اللجنة، لمدة ثلاث سنوات تقريبا(2007 ـ 2010)، يجعلني أصدق هذا السيناريو. فالأسرار التي تحصلت عليها خلال عملي، سواء بشكل شرعي أو بشكل “غير شرعي” و”بطرق ملتوية”،

وهو ما دفعني صيف العام 2010 إلى مغادرتها بعد أن ثبت لي أنها مجرد “ائتلاف عصابات مخابرات دولية”، بما فيها الاستخبارات الإسرائيلية، تؤكد بما لا يدع مجالا للشك أن إسرائيل هي التي قامت بالعملية، بالاشتراك مع مأجورين على الأرض، لاسيما العميد وسام الحسن، الذي جرت تصفيته لاحقا بهدف إغلاق “الثغرات الأمنية” في الجريمة.

فقد علمت أن جميع الكاميرات التي كانت مثبتة على أحد البنوك في المنطقة، جرى إخفاؤها من قبل مدير الأمن الداخلي “أشرف ريفي” و شريكه “وسام الحسن”.

كما أن “لجنة التحقيق الدولية” ، وحين انتهى عملها في لبنان، عمدت إلى نقل جميع ملفات عملها المتراكمة على مدى أربع سنوات، وهي صناديق تزن مئات الكيلوغرامات من الـأوراق والتسجيلات، إلى “لاهاي” في هولندا، ليس عبر مطار بيروت كما يفترض، ولكن برا إلى فلسطين المحتلة / إسرائيل، ومن هناك عبر مطار بن غوريون إلى أمستردام.

وهناك “بوليصة شحن” تؤكد ذلك، فهي عبارة عن الرسوم المالية المستحقة على “لجنة التحقيق” لصالح وزارة المالية الإسرائيلية في القدس!

هذا فضلا عن قضايا وتفاصيل أخرى لا أتجرأ على البوح بها الأن، إما لسبب “قانوني”، حيث أقسمت على الاحتفاظ بسرية ما أعرفه خلال عملي، وبالتالي ملاحقتي قضائيا في حال إفشائه( والآن يلاحقون “الأخبار” و”الجديد” لمجرد تشر تقارير عن المحكمة)، أو لأسباب أمنية بحتة. فأنا لا زلت بحاجة لرأسي، ولست مستعدا للاستغناء عنه!

ـــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ

(1)عن دور عمران أدهم في المفاوضات،راجع “نيويورك تايمز”( 8 /4 /1988) في تقرير لها بعنوان

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(2) ـ كشف لي سمير قصير في أيار من العام 2005، في رسالة بالبريد الإلكتروني أن جميع الشعارات والملصقات التي رفعتها مظاهرات “14 آذار” عقب اغتيال الحريري، ضد النظام السوري وضباط الأمن اللبنانيين الأربعة، جرى تصميمها من قبل شركة تعمل مع وكالة المخابرات الأميركية. وقد جرى تكليف هذه الشركة بذلك من قبل السفارة الأميركية في بيروت!

(3) ـ ما تجب إضافته من معلومات خاصة حول عمران أدهم أنه ملاحق قضائيا في لبنان، ومحكوم بالسجن غيابيا منذ العام 2010، على خلفية إدانته بعملية مافيوزية كبرى تهدف إلى حصوله على مبلغ 50 مليون فرنسي من “بنك المشرق” العام 1988، بالاشتراك مع مدير البنك “روجيه تمرز”. ومن المعلوم ، والأرجح غير معلوم، أن تمرز ينحدر من عائلة لبنانية “متمورنة”، أي أصبحت مارونية بالانتساب. إذ إنها عائلة يهودية الأصل جاءت إلى لبنان من فلسطين المحتلة عبر المغرب ومصر. وكان روجيه تمرز، وهو مافيوزي دولي كبير، أحد أبرز أصدقاء عبد الحليم خدام. لكن هذا لم يشفع له، إذ أقدم خدام على اختطافه( من خلال إيلي حبيقة) بهدف الفدية وتشليحه أمواله. وقد روى لي منفذ العملية ( روبير حاتم/ كوبر ـ المسؤول الأمني السابق في القوات اللبنانية) تفاصيل العملية في المقابلة التي أجريتها معه على أربع حلقات في العام 2008 كما هو معلوم.

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Al-Akhbar and the STL: We Will Not Be Silenced

The former head of the UN probe into the murder of Lebanon's ex-premier Rafiq Hariri Detlev Mehlis in a press conference (Photo: Wael Latki)

 

By: Ibrahim al-Amin

Published Monday, January 21, 2013

 

For those seeking to frighten us with the aim of silencing us, we can only say: keep trying, and try harder still. You will be wasting your effort and time.

 

“Freedom to the extent of murder.” That is MP Marwan Hamadeh’s phrase for describing journalism that doesn’t suit him. Hamadeh speaks, as ever, for a sizeable political camp in Lebanon which believes that Al-Akhbar’s behavior with regard to the international probe into the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri amounts to employing freedom to the extent of murder.

What he means, to be frank, is that the publication of supposedly secret information about the work of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) exposes people to being killed.

 

The same has been said, effectively, by STL spokesperson Marten Youssef, and by others who now hold Al-Akhbar responsible for the lives of everyone connected to the STL: judges, security people, lawyers, administrators, witnesses, or whoever. That means that if any of them come to any harm, Al-Akhbar will be held culpable. The STL Registry hinted as much in a letter it sent to Al-Akhbar’s administration demanding a halt to the publication of lists and details of witnesses.

It boils down to one thing: either stop probing the STL’s affairs, or bear criminal liability.

This message was delivered in a cutesy way by Youssef, who granted us the right to criticize the Tribunal’s work, telling us in so many words: Shout and scream if you want, and we will listen to you and consider the implications of your shouting. Many thanks, oh champion of transparency and the rights of individuals.

 

By the way, Mr. Youssef, could you tell us how much the Tribunal has cost, and thus what the Lebanese outlay has been (an accurate figure would be appreciated), from the time you assumed your post until today, and what services it has rendered in return for this sum?

 

Other objections are related to a campaign being waged by the STL prosecution team and its political counterpart – its allies in Lebanon – against the defense team appointed by the Tribunal. For example, the claim that the presence of a particular lawyer on the defense team (Antoine Korkmaz, who previously defended Jamil al-Sayyed when he was falsely imprisoned for four years) means it has been infiltrated by Sayyed’s political allies. The insinuation, ultimately, is that the defense team has been infiltrated by Hezbollah, the defendant.

This political camp finds the mere existence of a defense team at the STL intolerable, and would only be satisfied if it were headed by someone like Muhammad Matar [Saad Hariri’s legal representative]. So imagine what they make of the appointment of Omar Nashabe as an expert advisor to the defense. The ultimate crime, or the ultimate heresy. How could anyone in the STL dare even think of working with a legal or media specialist these guys don’t approve of?

The political prosecution team was also quick to attribute the latest leak of documents – automatically and with certainty – to the defense team. How they came to that conclusion is an interesting question.

Who told you that the material published in Lebanese, Arab, and foreign media outlets, including Al-Akhbar, came from documents that had been submitted to the defense team?

Were you able to see these documents for yourselves in order to say that?

If so, that is a disaster. You should, according to your own prescriptions, be prosecuted by the STL yourselves. If not, that means you are continuing to play the political accusations game that led to other disasters. Do you think you will never be held accountable by any court anywhere for the harm you have brought to individuals and countries?

Whatever the case, in our view, the STL itself, and especially the prosecution team, should take the initiative in holding a serious and unrestricted investigation to determine the party responsible for the leaking of information and documents, and how these made their way to media outlets including Al-Akhbar.

If reports are true that at least two members of the STL staff are being questioned on suspicion of leaking documents, that is a good move. It may help clarify the truth about who has an interest in leaking, and in whose service.

The witnesses themselves should also be asked if they indeed agree to testify, as most have come to appreciate that they are being used in a dirty game. We at Al-Akhbar have received clarifications from many of the people whose pictures and names we published, as well as other witnesses who were not identified. Some said they were taking legal action to prevent the prosecution team from using the testimonies they had given whether willingly or through inducements to testify or intimidation into doing so. Some witnesses said they were in the process of annulling their testimonies.

Another thing the political and legal prosecution teams are aware of is that the prosecution’s strategy has become common knowledge. It has mustered a huge crowd of witnesses, said to number more than a thousand, who will be asked to testify to the court in succession, though it will not be identifying them now. They are not being summoned because they have information to reveal which dramatically aids the investigation. It is more about using the glut of witnesses as a means of putting pressure on the defense team – by side-tracking and overloading it – while also making the STL’s work seem impressive to the public, and worth the tens of millions of dollars spent on it annually.

The prosecution is also trying to persuade some individuals to appear before the court to testify with information aimed, in practice, at ratcheting up the charge levelled at the four indicted members of the Resistance to the Hezbollah leadership itself. Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah’s remarks pledging to protect the four men are to be used to try to implicate him in the Hariri killing, and thus set in motion a fresh campaign aimed at discrediting him personally as symbol of the Arab world’s most popular and effective resistance movement.

It seems that people have to be reminded that this is a political issue par excellence. Al-Akhbar makes no secret of its assessment – based on abundant factual and documentary evidence – that what we are witnessing is one of the biggest political, judicial and intelligence frauds of modern times. Its sole purpose is to damage the Resistance, which frightened and continues to frighten the powers that control the institutions of supposed international legality.

For those seeking to frighten us with the aim of silencing us, we can only say: keep trying, and try harder still. You will be wasting your effort and time.

Ibrahim al-Amin is editor-in-chief of Al-Akhbar.

This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.

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The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!

 

The STL Witness List: Why We Published

Former chief investigator Detlev Mehlis openly published witnesses’ testimony in his reports. (Photo: Marwan Tahtah)

 

By: Ibrahim al-Amin

Published Sunday, January 20, 2013

 

Marten Youssef, spokesperson for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), has voiced his intense personal irritation at Al-Akhbar for publishing a list of some of the STL prosecution team’s witnesses. While he was careful to say he was giving his personal opinion, this obviously does not mean that his bosses in The Hague welcome what Al-Akhbar did. Nor are they unaware of efforts by powerful figures in the STL to take legal action against the paper on charges of contempt of court, publishing documents that compromise the fairness and integrity of proceedings, and also putting peoples’ lives at risk.

On the political front, the political prosecution team – represented by the Future Movement and the March 14 coalition – have decided in advance to find Al-Akhbar guilty of trying to obstruct international justice. This is unsurprising. Some of its members think opposing the STL was the reason Al-Akhbar was established.

These people aside, Al-Akhbar has also received questions from politicians, jurists, journalists, and security personnel, as well as some of those whose personal details were published. These questions all focused on the aim behind the decision to publish, and on whether it served a specific interested party, while stressing that Al-Akhbar was breaking the law.

It may help to point to a number of considerations in the course of explaining what happened.
First, Al-Akhbar, like any other media outlet, publishes what it considers appropriate in accordance with its editorial line, and does not evade its responsibilities toward all concerned. Over the past six years, it has published tens, if not hundreds, of documents that fall into the “breach of confidence” category. Yet like any other newspaper in the world, Al-Akhbar does not need to remind readers that it will treat all matters of “public right” as being part of what the public is entitled to know.

It will therefore publish such material without delay once it has confirmed its authenticity. Should mistakes be made, Al-Akhbar has the courage to take responsibility for them. (This is not, of course, a reference to the case of MP Okab Sakr: we are still waiting to be notified of the substance of the lawsuit that he and former premier Saad Hariri have filed against us.)

 

Secondly, the investigation into the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri and other Lebanese leaders is a public affair par excellence. Many years have passed since the investigations began, first by the local and international commissions and then the STL. Leaks have been a major characteristic of the work of all these bodies. This has enabled observers to be informed of the contents of all the STL’s documents without having to wait for what is set to be a distinctly strange trial in terms of secrecy of its witnesses, evidence, investigators, and much more.

Third, Al-Akhbar did not initiate the practice of publishing important documents and facts connected to the Tribunal’s work. A large collection of Lebanese, Arab, and Western politicians, journalists, and security operatives previously volunteered to publish such material in various media outlets, including details of what is now the main component of the prosecution’s case.

Former chief investigator Detlev Mehlis openly published witnesses’ testimony in his reports. The entourage of the political prosecution in Lebanon leaked prior information to media outlets in France and Germany about the indictments that were later issued against leaders of the resistance and Hezbollah. The legal and political prosecution teams also collaborated to conceal information from people harmed by the investigators’ mistakes in order to prevent any action being taken against those involved, both in the False Witnesses case and others.

Yet we never heard of the STL or its predecessors taking any meaningful legal or administrative steps in such cases, including in relation to the Canadian CBC outlet which published transcripts in which an implicit accusation was made against Gen. Wissam al-Hassan – the former head of the Information Branch of the Internal Security Forces (ISF), who was assassinated in October 2012 – because he absented himself from Hariri’s motorcade the day it was bombed. (Incidentally, Saad Hariri decided of his own accord to clear Hassan of any suspicion, even though it was officially raised by the STL, yet he entrusts the Tribunal with the task of punishing his father’s killers on his and the public’s behalf.)

Fourth, if anyone in Lebanon or the region, or even in The Hague, thinks there are any secrets or information that are unknown to those who want to know them – they are deluded and mistaken, if not deranged and excessively self-regarding.

More than 2,000 people were summoned to meet investigators during the days of the International Investigation Commission or after the establishment of the STL, including hundreds whom the prosecution has decided to deem witnesses. Virtually all of them have spoken about what happened to them to representatives of governments, political groups, security agencies, or the media. Those who thought they had struck secret deals with the prosecution did a lot of chattering too, before someone within the STL leaked their details. That was the leak that Al-Akhbar managed to take advantage of to publish what it deemed necessary to counter the international campaign of fabrication targeting the Resistance.

Fifth, the work as a whole of the Lebanese and international investigation commissions followed by the STL prosecution team has not earned the respect of the majority of jurists in Lebanon and around the world, nor the admiration of security professionals. Nor has it gained the respect of a large majority of the Lebanese people and other peoples. This is due to its high degree of politicization, which resulted in the launching of a campaign of political accusations which was highly damaging to individuals, companies, entities and states – not least in the false imprisonment of the four officers and of others in March 14 jails.

Thus the requisites of justice have not been genuinely upheld, and Al-Akhbar cannot be neutral towards something that continues to be used as a pretext to sow divisions between the Lebanese, cause domestic clashes, or discredit the Resistance. The Resistance is being made to pay for its victory over the forces of international terror in Israel, Europe, and America, and it is they who have been supervising all aspects of the investigations into the Hariri assassination since day one.

Sixth, available documents about the STL’s work – those relating to administration and finance as much as the judicial and criminal side of things – are so damning that the Lebanese should be demanding a detailed breakdown of how their money (taken from them surreptitiously and smuggled to the STL overnight) is being spent.

These documents contain evidence of a process by which the organization is being exploited to achieve political and personal goals out of its work. Senior officials who previously resigned from the Tribunal were and remain obliged not to offer any opinion or evaluation of the working practices they witnessed.

So, where does that leave us in Lebanon? We sorely lack the capability to build a sound judiciary that can help build a sound society. Then we find out, along with those in charge of the STL, that the main material on which the prosecution case is based was produced by the ISF Information Branch. Accordingly, the tens of millions of dollars spent so far have achieved nothing other than provide filing work and offices for the Tribunal’s staff of varying rank.

Finally, it is necessary to clarify that the article published on 15 January 2013 accompanied by a preliminary list of STL witnesses was written by myself and colleague Hassan Illeik. This clarification has been made necessary by attempts by powerful figures within the STL to discredit colleague Omar Nashabe.

Ibrahim al-Amin is editor-in-chief of Al-Akhbar.

This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
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The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!

Wikileaks..Elyse: Exploiting investigations in Hariri's assassination case to pressure, destabilize Syria

Champress

"Al-Akhbar" Lebanese Daily continues publishing "Wikileaks" cables that reveal the extent to which the former Lebanese Justice Minister Charles Rizk cooperated with the International Tribunal, particularly in terms of arbitrary arrest of the of the four Lebanese officers, as well as the international community's bet on the impact of this tribunal on the stability of the Syrian regime and the possibility of its falling after implicating Syria in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and his companions.

Rizk To Delay Officers' Release

In a cable carrying the number 07BEIRUT1005, issued in Beirut, on July 6, 2007, classified by U.S. Ambassador at that time dealt with the theme of "homework of the Special Tribunal."

"Minister of Justice Charles Rizk and Ambassador Feltman met on July 5th, he and PM Siniora agreed to send the latest early next week to the United Nations a list of candidates for judges and deputy public prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon," the cable said.

"Rizk was deeply concerned that the investigative judge in the case of the Hariri's assassination, Elias Eid, who was appointed during what he described as "Syrian occupation," was ordering the release of the four officers imprisoned without charge since the summer of 2005."

"Given the negative impact the release of the four officers on the political fortunes of the "March 14" movements and morals, Rizk will try to use some of the "legal tricks" to delay the release. But he urged the United Nations to appoint a Prosecutor of the Court as soon as possible, so that their fate will rest with the court and its authority," the US document revealed.

Elyse: Syrian Officials Must be Accused

In another telegram under the title "the Elyse: Syrian officials must be accused in addition to Syrian security members," a document issued from US embassy in Paris on September 26, 2005, No. 05PARIS6580, uncovers three meetings to recruit a clear policy for the work of the International Investigation Commission in the assassination of former PM Rafik al-Hariri. "One of the jobs of the German Chairman of the Committee investigation, Detlev Mehlis, is according to French officials, to prepare the ground for the disarmament of Hizbullah," the paper revealed.

As for the employment of these investigations in dealing with Syria, there is unlikely to lead to a coup against the regime in Syria.

In the details, the French diplomat Herve Bazansno stresses during the meetings with U.S. officials in the US Embassy in Paris, and representatives from the French Foreign Ministry and the Elysee (the cable number 05PARIS6580 issued on 26 September 2005) on the need to focus on linking the UN Security Council Resolution number 1559 (2004), which focuses on the disarmament of Hizbullah, by resolution 1595 (2005), which established the International Independent Investigation Commission concerned with the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Bazansno said to the Americans: "We have to move in stages, and classify Security Council resolution 1595 priority ahead of resolution 1559. The application of the first helps to prepare the ground for the application of the second, as Hizbullah will lose out justifications for maintaining military strength."

More Sanctions on Syria

The U.S. National Security Advisor Deputy Elliott Abrams held a series of meetings on November 22, 2005 with senior French officials, including the Elyse adviser for the Middle East, Dominique Bush, and the French PM's diplomatic advisor Christophe Farno as well as Herve Bazansno from the French Foreign Ministry, and others, to discuss regional issues, and to focus on Syria, Lebanon, Iran and other issues.

According to the details of the meeting (05PARIS8072, Date 11/29/2005) "Bush was sure that the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would not cooperate with the President of the International Commission of Inquiry into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Detlev Mehlis because such cooperation could affect the stability of the system that does not differentiate between the Syrian security services and the President's family."

Bush stressed, according to a record, that "the Security Council's failure to respond to the lack of Syrian cooperation by Syria make the Council loses its credibility."

Bush proposed UN sanctions aimed at suspects identified by the Commission of Inquiry, "Let's go further, to join Syrian officials from a higher level, in addition to formal institutions such as the Syrian army and security services and the Baath Party," former US President was quoted.

French Priorities: Investigation above Human Rights

A political official at the U.S. Embassy in Paris discussed with the French diplomat Bazansno Herve (French Foreign Ministry) in the November 18, 2005 the issue of the Syrian authorities arresting to the Syrian democratic activist Kamal Lubani. According to the details of the meeting (05PARIS7922 Date November 21, 2005) the French position on this issue was as the following: "Despite the problem of the human rights situation in Syria, the French government doesn't see the need to turn the arrest of Lubani into a big issue, especially in light of the tense political atmosphere."

The French official added that "there are more important priorities to the French Government such as the Chairman of the International Commission of Inquiry Detlev Mehlis' investigations in the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri."

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Saad al-Hariri Caught On Tape with “False Witness” Muhammad Zuhair al-Siddiq

Posted by Qifa Nabki

Well this is embarrassing. Lebanese TV station al-Jadeed has a major scoop tonight: a leaked recording of a meeting between Saad al-Hariri, Information Branch chief Colonel Wissam al-Hassan, STL deputy chief investigator Gerhard Lehmann, and Muhammad Zuhair al-Siddiq. You can watch the entire report below.

It’s not entirely clear just how damaging this could be for Hariri. On the one hand, judging from a comment made by Siddiq near the beginning, this conversation must have taken place shortly after the attempted assassination of May Chidiac on September 20th, 2005. That was still very early in the investigation, well before the IIIC determined that Siddiq was unreliable (note the date of the report shown in the video: August 2006). For an excellent background document on the whole false witness scandal, see here.

Furthermore, the al-Jadeed audio clip does not portray Hariri or al-Hassan feeding Siddiq any information. Rather, it’s the other way around, and the German investigator raises doubts about the veracity of the witness’s testimony. If anything, what the clip seems to show is:

1. Hariri and his people wanted Siddiq to provide “clear evidence” of Syrian involvement.
2. They were convinced by what he said, and were trying to convince Lehmann that his testimony was valuable.
3. Al-Hassan looks even more eager than Hariri to get the information out of Siddiq.

Now, despite all of this, I do believe that the clip could be seriously damaging — depending on how Hariri handles it. The opposition is going to claim that Hariri lied about not having anything to do with the false witnesses (even though this audio actually seems to confirm that he was the recipient of Siddiq’s testimony, not the originator of it.) The mere fact that he was in contact with Siddiq is enough to further poison the well of public trust in the STL.

More on this tomorrow (al-Jadeed has promised us another tape!)

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Sayyed Nasrallah: Let Us Combine Forces, Face STL Indictment, Protect Lebanon

Video

Sayyed Nasrallah Delivers Speech On 10th Night of Ashura

15/12/2010 On the tenth evening of Ashura Wednesday, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah delivers a political speech, unlike his eminence’s earlier speeches on the occasion, which primarily focused on the religious aspects and the lessons that can be drawn from the martyrdom of Imam Hussein son of Imam Ali peace upon them.

Sayyed Nasrallah began his speech by stressing the Greater Israel project has ended. “The fundamental issue in our region is the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the plots being set with Palestine being the focus.

For Israel in our present time, there are certain notions that have ceased to exist. There is no longer a so called Greater Israel project due to perseverance, sacrifices, and the resistance, but certainly not because the positive quality of the Israelis. On the 25th of May 2000, the final nail was put in Israel’s project.”

The Hezbollah chief also said that Israel can neither impose its conditions nor declare war anymore. “Israel’s image that used to terrify this region can’t even scare children today. The 2006 victory of the resistance in Lebanon and the steadfastness of the Gazans have dealt a death blow to Israel’s project. These are two achievements by the resistance and the camp that backed it, and whoever was on the other side of the conflict lost with Israel despite international and some regional support.”

Sayyed Nasrallah, however, warned that “this does not mean that Israel has become weak and can be removed (from the region). Israel still possesses many elements of force, but it is not the Israel that had plans of establishing the Greater Israel. It is seeking to rebuild its force and reinforce its home front. However, Israel has been moving fast towards Judaizing Palestine and declaring a Jewish state. Israel’s project has become limited to historic Palestine, excluding Gaza, so as to establish its identity. Israel is working on this; it is increasing its military forces. Even in Lebanon today, and as a result of intense coordination between the Lebanese army and the resistance, several sophisticated spying equipment and cameras relaying day and night pictures to Israel, have been dismantled on the Sannine and Barouk Mountains. Israel found itself in front of three options: The first is to go to negotiations and settlement; but this is not what Israel seeks because it does not will to make concessions. The second is to go to war, with Lebanon, Syria, Iran, or Gaza or maybe all of them. Israel knows that going to war on any front would be adventurous. Therefore, everything we hear today from Israel’s side is mere psychological war. The third option is to maintain a status quo pending regional and international changes that may help Israel in going to war or going to settlement. Israel prefers the third option to make use of time and finalize all steps to Judaize Palestine. Yet, the Israelis say that this would also give Israel’s enemies more time to gain more strength. This is true. The Israelis as well as some in Lebanon have been raising the issue of Hezbollah’s growing force not to mention Syria and Iran’s. For the Israelis, this is a really serious conflict because their future is at stake. However, Israel’s real option is sedition; Muslim-Christian strife in Egypt, Sunni-Shiite strife and Arab-Kurd strife in Iraq. The most dangerous of the aforementioned is the Sunni-Shiite strife.”

His eminence reminded that [head of Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee] Shaul Mofaz had warned the Arab world a few days ago against what he called the Shiite threat or the Shiite epidemic. “He called for alliance between Israel and whom he calls moderate Arabs against the Shiite danger. He told the Sunnis he wanted to make an alliance with them against the Shiites. Mofaz seems to have forgotten what he did to the Sunnis. Every massacre Israel committed in Palestine was against Sunnis, all of the displaced Palestinians were Sunnis, those whom Israel eliminated from the face of earth were Sunnis, the thousands of prisoners in Israeli jails are Sunnis, and those whom Israel had fought in Syria, Jordan, Egypt and part of Lebanon were Sunnis. Impudent Mofaz has his reasons to make such an appeal.”

Sayyed Nasrallah called to beware of what Israel and the US are planning for this region. “Shiites and Sunnis alike share the responsibility to stand up to this threat. This requires accuracy and understanding of the background of what has been happening in the region and the world. It is also the responsibility of the Christians in the east whose mere existence is being aimed at. Israel and the US do not care about the Christians in the east; they only care about their interests. I tell some Christians in Lebanon who imagine that Sunni-Shiite strife would give them power in Lebanon, that they are mistaken. The Israelis want the existence of Christians in the region to end and want to weaken the Muslim presence here. In this context, we understand what lies behind the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) and the indictment being prepared to accuse Hezbollah members or leaders in martyr Rafiq Hariri’s assassination.”

The Hezbollah leader revealed that in 2006, news reports stated that the international investigation was inclined to accuse Hezbollah in the murder. “In 2008, I was directly told about this; it is not a secret. However, we did not take any action because we give heed to this country. When I received a request for a one-year truce, I understood that such an indictment was in the making. Never did we seek any justification to take over the country or turn against the Taef Accord. If we had sought such justification, we had one since 2008. The indictment issue has become serious and it constitutes the foundation of a plot against Hezbollah and the resistance in Lebanon. It is irrational to stay silent until the issuance of the indictment. I am sure that the STL will face something more difficult than Wikileaks. Our obligation stipulates that we explain the situation as a whole and we have been doing this for months. We indicated that the investigation is politicized because investigators insist on ruling out the Israeli involvement hypothesis despite the evidence we provided. We do not want tension in the country, but we also have to defend Lebanon and the resistance.”

The secretary general reminded that when former head of the international investigation Detlev Mehlis, he used to rely on a former German intelligence officer called Gerhard Lehman. “This corrupt man was responsible for leaking investigation reports. Lehman has sold document here in Lebanon, and the people who bought those documents handed them to me. He sold them for 50 or 70 thousand dollars. I was made an offer to buy everything that concerns the investigation for a million dollars; perhaps I was wrong to refuse and maybe they will be leaked in the future. They are protecting the false witnesses, not the Mohamad Zuheir Siddiq type of witnesses, but those who fabricated them, like Mehlis, Lehman, and some Lebanese political and security leaders. Tonight, the Cabinet did not vote on how to deal with the false witnesses’ issue. Tonight, the government is protecting them and those who fabricated them.”

Sayyed Nasrallah stressed Hezbollah does not tolerate injustice. “If we wanted to take advantage of this and turn over the table we would have done so, but we did not. We adhere to this country but we don’t want anyone to aggress the resistance. No one should expect that we want to annul the UNSC resolution, but initiatives can stop the effect of UN resolutions. Syria was targeted for four years for a reason. The objectives were thwarted by the steadfastness and perseverance of Syria and the resistance. Today they are pointing the finger at Hezbollah, also for purposes like damaging the image of the resistance and its allies, thus driving a wedge between Hezbollah and its Sunni and Christian allies to isolate the party and then attack it. Let us thwart these goals. Let us review the work of the international investigation and its flaws in the past five years.”

His eminence suggested that “since the March 14 bloc say they don’t know anything about the investigation, why do they insist on defending the false witnesses? We don’t seek to try those behind the false witnesses, we want the truth. We regard the Syrian-Saudi effort with great hope to find a way to avoid internal tension and we should all work together to back this effort and find a solution before the issuance of the indictment. A major decision has been taken for this country. We should all combine forces to confront the indictment and its aftermath, and protect the country.”
“Tomorrow, we take to the street to renew allegiance to Imam Hussein. Tomorrow will be different and exceptional in attendance. Tomorrow, the world is waiting to see your faces, your eyes, your fists, and your resolve. Our attendance tomorrow will reflect our commitment to righteousness, resistance, our fixed standards, and to protecting our Palestine. We will tell the world that the Israeli drums of war will not scare us, and we shall confront conspiracies. Tomorrow we will tell the world that we are the resistance society that trusts God and is sure of victory in the end.”

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NEW REVELATIONS ON RAFIK HARIRI’S ASSASSINATION

29. Nov, 2010 

Source: Voltairenet

by: Thierry Meyssan

While western media have announced that indictments against Hezbollah will be issued shortly by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Russian magazine Odnako challenges the entire UN investigation.

Thierry Meyssan posits that the weapon used to assassinate former Prime Minister Rafik Hairiri was supplied by Germany.  



Detlev Mehlis, President of the UN Investigation
Commission violated all the rules of the criminal
 procedure, fabricated evidence and used
false witnesses to exoerate Germany and accuse Syria.

 Former German prosecutor and first commissioner in charge of the UN probe, Detlev Mehlis, seemingly doctored evidence to cover up his country’s involvement. These revelations embarrass the Tribunal and reverse the tide in Lebanon.

All the conflicts rocking the Middle East today crystallize around the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). Peace hinges on it, and so does war. For some, the STL should bring about the dissolution of the Hezbollah, quell the Resistance and establish a Pax Americana.

Others consider that the STL is flouting the law and subverting the truth to ensure the takeover of a new colonial order in the region.

The Tribunal was created on 30 May 2007, pursuant to UN Security Council resolution 1757, to prosecute the alleged sponsors of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination.

In the political context at that time, this implied nothing more and nothing less than bringing to trial serving Presidents Bashar el-Assad of Syria and Emile Lahoud of Lebanon, not exactly favourites of the neo-conservatives.

However, the charges were not pursued since they were based on flimsy evidence planted by false witnesses. With no accused left, the Tribunal could easily have disappeared in the meanders of bureaucracy were it not for a turn of events that catapulted it back into the epicenter of the turbulent Middle East political scene.

On 23 May 2009, Atlanticist journalist Erick Follath disclosed on Der Spiegel Online that the prosecutor was poised to indict new suspects: certain Hezbollah military leaders. For the past 18 months, Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary-general, has been proclaiming his party’s innocence. He maintains that the real aim of the proceedings is to decapitate the Resistance and clear the region for the Israeli army. For its part, the U.S. administration in a sudden surge of righteousness pledged that no one would be allowed to shun international Justice.

In any event, the indictment – which all believe to be imminent – against Shia leaders for the assassination of a Sunni leader is of such a nature as to spark off a fitna, namely a Muslim civil war, plummeting the region into new depths of bloodshed and violence.

During his 15 and 16 November official visit to Moscow, Saad Hariri – current Lebanese Prime Minister and son of the deceased – reiterated that the political exploitation of the Tribunal exposes his country to the risk of a new conflagration. President Medvedev retorted that Russia wants Justice to be served and reproves any attempt to discredit, weaken or delay the Tribunal’s proceedings. This position of principle arises from the confidence that the Kremlin decided to place in the STL. But it risks being severely eroded by Odnako’s revelations.

Indeed, we deemed it desirable to delve into the circumstances of Rafik Hariri’s assassination. The data we unearthed has opened a new avenue, making one wonder why it had never been explored until now. In the course of our lengthy investigation, we encountered a great number of actors, too many no doubt, so that the news of our work spread quickly, alarming those for whom the assassination trail implicating the armed Lebanese Resistance represents a real godsent. Aiming to intimidate us, the Jerusalem Post on 18 October launched a preventive attack through a piece referring to our work. In a purely libelous vein, it accuses the author of this article of having received 1 million dollars from Iran to exonerate Hezbollah.

Getting down to facts, Rafik Hariri’s convoy was attacked in Beirut on 14 February 2005. Twenty-three people were killed and one hundred injured. A preliminary report commissioned by the Security Council calls attention to the unprofessional conduct of the Lebanese magistrates and police. To redress the situation, the SC assigned its own investigators, providing them with the important means that Lebanon was unable to offer. From the outset of the investigation, it was generally accepted that the attack had been perpetrated by a suicide bomber driving a van packed with explosives.

Having been established to compensate for the Lebanese lack of professionalism, one would have expected the United Nations mission to scrupulously observe the classical criminal procedures. Not so! The crime scene – on the basis of the topography still intact as well as the photos and video footage shot on that day – was not examined in detail. The victims were not exhumed and no autopsies were performed. For a long time, no attempt was made to ascertain the modus operandi. After discarding the hypothesis of a bomb buried in the ground, the investigators espoused the one involving the van withough bothering to verify it.

And yet, this version is implausible: looking at the crime scene, anyone can easily observe the very large and deep crater that a surface explosion could not have dug out. Faced with the adamancy of the Swiss experts who refused to endorse the official version, on 19 October the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) recreated the crime scene behind closed doors. It didn’t take place in Lebanon, nor in the Netherlands which is the seat of the STL, but in France, one of the countries funding the Tribunal. The buildings surrounding the crime scene were reconstructed and earth was brought in from Beirut. The convoy was reconstituted, including the armoured vehicle. The aim was to demonstrate that the height of the concrete buildings had confined the explosion, making it possible for the blast to produce the crater. The results of this costly experiment have never been divulged.

When looking at the photos and videos taken immediately after the attack, the first most striking feature is the blaze. Car parts and various types of objects are burning all around. Then, the bodies of the victims: they are charred on one side and intact on the other. An astonishing phenomenon which bears no resemblance to what is normally caused by conventional explosives. The theory that the van was transporting a mix of RDX, PETN and TNT does not account for the damages occurred.

Rafik Hariri’s remains

What is more, from the photos showing Rafik Hariri’s corpse one can observe that his solid gold wristwatch has melted, whereas the collar of his luxury shirt still hugs his neck in pristine condition.

So, what really happened?

The explosion generated a blast of an exceptionally intense heat and exceptionally brief duration. Thus, the flesh exposed to the blast was instantly carbonized, while the body underneath was not burnt.

High-density objects (such as the gold watch) absorbed the heat and were destroyed.
Conversely, low-density objects (like the delicate fabric of Hariri’s shirtcollar) didn’t have enough time to absorb the heat and were unaffected.

Moreover, the videos show that a number of limbs were severed by the explosion. Oddly, the cuts are clean, as if made on clay statues. There is no sign of shattered or jutting bones, nor of any torn flesh. The reason is that the explosion sucked up all the oxygen and dehydrated the bodies, rendering them friable. In the hours that followed, several on-the-spot witnesses complained of breathing ailments. Wrongfully, the authorities interpreted them as a psychosomatic reaction following their psychological trauma.

Such observations constitute the abc of any criminal inquiry. They should have been the starting point, yet they do not figure in any of the reports submitted by the “professional experts” to the Security Council.
When we asked a number of military experts what kind of explosives would be capable of generating such damage, they mentioned a new type of weapon which has been developed over several decades and is featured in reports appearing in scientific journals. The combination of nuclear and nonotechnology science can trigger an explosion the exact strength of which can be regulated and controlled. The weapon is set up to destroy everything within a given perimeter, down to the nearest centimeter.

Always according to the same military specialists, this weapon can also produce other types of effects: it exerts a very strong pressure on the area of the explosion. The minute it stops, the heaviest objects are propelled upwards. Accordingly, cars were sent flying through the air.

There is one unequivocal fact: this weapon is equipped with a nano-quantity of enriched uranium, emanating radiations which are quantifiable. Now, it just so happens that one of the passengers in Rafik Hariri’s armoured car survived the explosion. Former Minister Bassel Fleyhan was taken to a topnotch French military hospital for treatment. The doctors were astounded to discover that he had been in contact with enriched uranium. But no one linked this to the attack.

Hezbollah intercepted and released videos from Israeli drones
 surveying Rafik Hariri’s movements and the scene of the crime.

Technically speaking, the weapon is shaped like a small missile, a few tens of centimeters long. It must be fired from a drone. Actually, several witnesses assured they had heard an aircraft flying over the scene of the crime. The investigators asked the United States and Israel, whose surveillance satellites are permanently switched on, to provide them with the pertinent images. On the day of the attack, the United States had deployed AWACS aircraft over Lebanon. The live feeds could help to establish the presence of a drone and even to determine its flight path.

But Washington and Tel Aviv – which indefatigably urge all parties to cooperate with the STL – turned down the request.

At a press conference held on 10 August 2010, Hassan Nasrallah showed a video which, according to him, was shot by Israeli military drones and intercepted by his organisation. All of Rafik Hariri’s movements had been registered for months, until the final day when all the surveillance converged on the bend in the road where the attack was staged. Thus, Tel-Aviv had been surveying the area prior to the assassination. Which is not to say, as Mr Nasrallah himself points out, that they were the authors of the crime.

So, who fired the missile?

This is where things get complicated. According to the military experts, in 2005, Germany was the only country which had a handle on this new technology. It is, therefore, Berlin which supplied and set up the crime weapon.

Hence, it is easy to understand why former Berlin Attorney General Detlev Mehlis – a very controversial figure within his own profession – was eager to preside the UN Investigation Commission. He is, in fact, notoriously linked to the German and U.S. secret services. Assigned in 1986 to shed light on the attack against the La Belle disco in Berlin, he diligently covered up all Israeli and U.S. fingerprints to falsely accuse Libya and justify the bombing of Mouammar Khadafi’s palace by the U.S. Air Force. In the early 2000s, Mr Mehlis was lavishly paid for his stint as researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (think-tank linked to AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby) and at the Rand Corporation (think-tank attached to the U.S. military industrial complex). All elements which cast a shadow over his impartiality in the Rafik Hariri affair and should have sufficed to have him taken off the case.

Mehlis was seconded by Commissioner Gerhard Lehmann, who is also a well-known German and U.S. secret services agent. He was formally identified by a witness as having taken part in the programme run by the Bush Administration in Europe, involving the abduction, detention and torture of prisoners in “black holes”. His name is mentioned in the ad hoc Report by the Council of Europe. Notwithstanding, he managed to dodge all judicial proceedings on the strength of a strong though unlikely alibi provided by his colleagues in the German police.

Mehlis and Lehmann propagated the theory of the explosives-laden suicide van to deflect the investigation from the German weapon that was used to commit the crime.

Various earth samples were taken from the scene of the crime. They were first mixed, then divided into three jars that were sent to three different laboratories. In the first two no trace of explosives was found. The third jar was kept by Mehlis and Lehmann, who personally sent it to the third laboratory. Here, remnants of explosives were detected. In principle, if the decision is made to resort to three judiciary experts, in case of disagreement it is the majority opinion that prevails. No way! Mehlis and Lehmann violated the protocols. They deemed that theirs was the only reliable sample and embarked the Security Council on a false trail.

The profoundly flawed character of the Mehlis-Lehmann investigations has amply been proven. Their successors acknowledged as much sotto voce and declared entire sections of proceedings nul and void.

Amidst their manipulations, the most famous one relates to the false witnesses. Five individuals purported to have seen the preparations for the attack and incriminated Presidents Bashar el-Assad and Emile Lahoud. While these allegations were fueling the drums of war, their lawyers exposed the lies and the prosecution backed down.

Based on these false testimonies, Detlev Mehlis arrested – in the name of the international community – four Lebanese generals and had them incarcerated for four years. Pushing his way with his cow-boys into private homes, without a warrant from the Lebanese authorities, he also detained for questioning members of their entourage. With his assistants – who spoke Hebrew to each other – he manipulated the families. Thus, on behalf of the international community, he showed the wife of one of the generals a doctored picture to prove that her husband had not only obscured his implication in the murder, but was also two-timing her.

Concurrently, he tried the same maneuver on the son of the “suspect”’, but in this case to convince him that his mother was a woman of loose morals, a situation which had plunged his desperate father into a murderous folly. The aim was to induce a family crime of honour, thereby tarnishing the image of respected and respectable people.

Even more incredible is Lehmann’s proposition to libertate one of the four imprisoned generals in exchange for his false testimony against a Syrian leader.

Moreover, German journalist Jürgen Cain Külbel highlighted a disturbing detail: it would have been impossible to trigger the explosion by remote control or by marking the target without first disactivating the powerful interference system built into Rafik Hariri’s convoy. A system among the most sophisticated in the world, manufactured in … Israel.

Külbel was approached by a well-known pro-Palestinian advocate, Professor Said Dudin, to promote his book. However, the outrageous declarations frequently made by Dudin served to torpedo it instead. Külbel, a former East German criminal police officer, was quick to find out that Dudin had a long-standing reputation for being a CIA mole within the German left-wing. The journalist published a number of old East-German reports attesting to this fact and was sentenced and briefly imprisoned for illicit dissemination of documents; meantime, Dudin was settling into the German Embassy in Beirut for the purpose of infiltrating the families of the four generals.

Overlooked in the Middle East, Germany’s role in this region is worth spotlighting. After Israel’s war of aggression against Lebanon in the Summer of 2006, Chancellor Angela Merkel deployed a very large contingent to join the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The 2 400 soldiers from Germany control the maritime infrastructure to prevent arms supplies from reaching the Resistance via the Mediterranean. On that occasion, Ms Merkel declared that the mission of the German army was to protect Israel. A wind of rebellion arose among the officers. By the hundreds, they sent letters to remind her that they had enlisted to defend their homeland not a foreign country, be it an ally.

An unprecedented development took place on 17 March 2008 and 18 January 2010, when the German and Israeli governments held a joint Council of Ministers meeting where various programmes were adopted, especially in the defense sector. At this stage, there shouldn’t be too many secrets left between the Tsahal and the Bundeswehr.

The investigation conducted by Detlev Mehlis is both steeped in ridicule as regards the false witnesses, and tainted with the illegal detention of the four generals. To the extent that the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention formally and firmly condemned this excess of power.

This being said, the opprobrium that befalls Mr Mehlis’ work should not reflect on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon which is in no way responsible for his manipulations. But here, again, things get complicated. The credibility of the STL rests on its ability to curb, in the first place, all those who attempted to mask the truth and falsely accused Presidents Bachar el-Assad and Emile Lahoud, with the intention of provoking a war.
Now, it transpires that the Tribunal refuses to try the false witnesses, giving the impression that it is covering up the manipulations under Mehlis’ watch and is in fact pursuing the similar political objectifs (this time against the Hezbollah, and perhaps against others in future). Even worse, the Tribunal will not hand over to Jamil Sayyed (one of the four generals illegally detained) the minutes of his accusers’ hearings, thereby barring him from requesting compensation and making it look as if it condones four years of arbitrary detention.

In more prosaic terms, the Tribunal is shirking its responsabilities. On the one hand, it must judge the false witnesses to thwart further manipulations and to make plain its impartiality; on the other hand it refuses to undertake a “clean-up” operation which might force it to arrest Prosecutor Mehlis. However, Odnako’s revelations on the German lead render this posture untenable. All the more since it’s already too late: General Jamil Sayyed filed a complaint in Syria and a Syrian examining magistrate has already indicted Detlev Mehlis, Commissioner Gerahrd Lehmann plus the five false witnesses. One can imagine the commotion at the STL should Syria decide to call on Interpol to have them arrested.

Just as the Mehlis commission was supposed to compensate for the lack of professionalism on the part of the Lebanese forces of law and order, the STL should equally have ensured the impartiality that the Lebanese courts may have been short of. But things are far off target, which raises the question of the Tribunal’s legitimacy.

Kofi Annan didn’t want the Lebanon Tribunal to exert international jurisdiction, but to function as a national Lebanese tribunal with an international character. It would have been subjected to Lebanese law while half of its members would have been nationals of other countries. The plan did not materialize because the negotiations came to a sudden end. More precisely, an agreement was reached with the Lebanese government presided at the time by Fouad Siniora, the former authorised representative of the Hariri estate, but it was never ratified either by Parliament or by the president of the Republic. Hence, the agreement was endorsed unilaterally by the UN Security Council (Resolution 1757 of 30 May 2007). The end result is a hybrid and fragile entity.

As pointed out by Kofi Annan, this Tribunal is not analogous to any other so far been created within the purview of the United Nations. “It is neither a subsidiary organ of the UN, nor a component of the Lebanese judiciary system”; it is simply “a conventional organ” sitting between the executive authority of the Lebanese government and the UN. Judging by the international rule of separation of powers and independence of the judiciary, the STL cannot be regarded as a genuine tribunal, but rather as a joint disciplinary commission within the executive frameworks of the UN and the Lebanese Government. Whatever decision it may make will inevitably be coated with suspicion.

Worse still, any Lebanese government can terminate it since, not having been ratified, the related agreement was binding only on the previous government. As a result, the present Lebanese coalition government has become a battlefield between partisans and foes of the Tribunal. In an attempt to maintain governmental stability, week after week Lebanese President Michel Sleimane has been dissuading the Council of Ministers from taking a vote on any issue linked with the STL. This embargo cannot hold out forever.

Bad news coming in pairs, suspicions have now extended to the President of the STL, Antonio Cassese. This reputable international jurist was President of the International Criminal Tribunal For the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). He happens to be a ardent supporter of the Jewish colonialisation of Palestine. A personal friend of Elie Wiesel, Cassese received and accepted an honorary award, presented by Wiesel himself. He should normally have withdrawn and resigned when Hassan Nasrallah disclosed that Israeli drones had been reconnoitering the crime scene as well as the victim’s movements for months.

Worst of all, Judge Cassesse personifies an interpretation of international law that causes division in the Middle East. Although his official curriculum vitae obscures it, he took part in the 2005 negotiations between member states of the European Union and those bordering the Mediterranean Sea (“Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean”). His definition of terrorism blocked the discussions. According to him, terrorism is exclusively the act of individuals or private groups, never states. It follows that a struggle against an occupying army would not be considered as “resistance” but as “terrorism”. In the local context, this juridical view is consistent with a colonial framework and disqualifies the STL.

According to the President of the Special
 Tribunal for Lebanon, Antonio Cassese,
the armed resistance in Palestine, Lebanon,
Iraq and Afghanistan should be
tried for "terrorism".

The methods of the Special Tribunal do not differ from those applied by the Mehlis Commission. STL investigators collected mass files on Lebanese students, social security recipients and subscribers of public utility services. On 27 October, in the absence of the Lebanese judges, they even tried to snatch medical records from a gynecological clinic frequented by the wives of Hezbollah members. It is obvious that these probes have no link whatsoever with the Rafik Hariri assassination. Everything leads the Lebanese to believe that the information is actually earmarked for Israel, of which, in their eyes, the TSL is merely an offshoot.

All these problems had clearly been foreseen by President Putin when, in 2007, he had vainly made a pitch for a different wording of the STL founding resolution. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin had denounced the “juridical loopholes” of the system. He deplored that the Security Council should threaten to resort to force (Chapter VII) to achieve unilaterally the creation of this “conventional organ”. He had emphasised that while the Tribunal should be working towards the reconciliation of the Lebanese people, it was devised in such a way as to divide them even more. Finally, Russia – as China – refused to endorse Resolution 1757.

The truth ultimately seeps through. The Israeli drone videos released by the Hezbollah expose Israel’s involvement in the crime preparations. The facts revealed by Odnako point to the use of a sophisticated German weapon. The puzzle is nearly complete.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian