Posted on 10/22/2005 4:41:34 PM PDT by Valin
BEIRUT, Lebanon - The son and political heir of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Saturday called for an international tribunal to try his father's killers after a U.N. probe implicated top Syrian and Lebanese intelligence officials.
Lebanese security officials, meanwhile, said police had arrested an Islamic fundamentalist in connection with the assassination _ the first since chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis released his findings into the investigation of Feb. 14 killing of Hariri in a Beirut car bombing.
Saad Hariri, the former premier's son and a Lebanese legislator, made the appeal two days after Mehlis handed his report to the U.N. Security Council. He praised the U.N. investigation, which said there was a clear link between Syrian and Lebanese intelligence officials in the bombing.
"The hour of truth has come. ... The blood of the martyr Rafik Hariri and his colleagues in the march toward freedom, dignity, sovereignty will not have been shed in vain," he said in a televised speech from his home in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia.
"The culprits who planned this terrorist crime and participated in executing and covering it up will face, God willing, the punishment they deserve," he added.
Syrian Foreign Ministry adviser Riyad Dawoodi, meanwhile, reiterated his country's criticism of the U.N. report, saying it was false, politicized and aimed at targeting Damascus rather than uncovering the truth.
He said Mehlis also relied on witnesses who lacked credibility, including an alleged former Syrian intelligence officer, Zuhair Mohammed Al-Siddiq, who was arrested last week in Paris after it appeared he gave false testimony to the U.N. team.
"All that was contained in the report is based on presumptions and allegations," Dawoodi said. "There's no proof."
Saad Hariri, who heads the largest anti-Syrian bloc in Lebanon's parliament and had demanded the U.N. probe into his father's killing, spoke shortly before Lebanon's Cabinet was to meet for discussions on the report.
He called for an international tribunal to try the alleged killers.
"Reaching justice presents the Arab and international community with additional responsibilities that prompt us to urge them to continue all aspects of the investigation in the crime and refer it to an international court that is capable of punishing the criminals," he said. "We do not seek revenge. We seek justice."
Late Saturday, police arrested Mahmoud Abdel-Al, a member of the pro-Syrian Al-Ahbash Sunni Muslim Orthodox group, in Beirut, security officials said.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give official statements, said a judge based his decision to detain Abdel-Al upon a recommendation from chief U.N. investigators.
Mehlis' report alleged that Abdel-Al called pro-Syrian Lebanese President Emile Lahoud on his mobile telephone minutes before the blast that killed Hariri. Lahoud denied receiving such a call.
The U.N. inquiry claimed that shortly after, Abdel-Al also contacted one of four Lebanese pro-Syrian generals who have since been arrested in the probe.
Police also seized unspecified documents during the raid on Abdel-Al's home, the officials said without elaborating.
Abdel-Al's brother is a prominent figure in Al-Ahbash group, Ahmad Abdel-Al, whom Mehlis identified as a "key figure" in the ongoing investigation.
On Friday, President Bush called on the U.N. to deal quickly and seriously with the report, which he said "strongly suggests that the politically motivated assassination could not have taken place without Syrian involvement."
The U.S. and France were readying U.N. Security Council resolutions critical of Syria. The Security Council was scheduled to meet on Tuesday to discuss the report.
But Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin on Saturday warned against responding too quickly to the report, saying it would require "thorough study and analysis." Syria has long been allied with Russia.
"We are convinced that the settlement of this problem should in no way lead to the emergence of a new hotbed of tension and further destabilization in the Middle East," Kamynin said in a statement posted on the ministry's Web site.
Dawoodi said Damascus would continue to cooperate with the investigation but stopped short of saying Syria would allow witnesses to be questioned by Mehlis abroad.
"We'll see what is the extent of this cooperation," he said.
Rafik Hariri's assassination ignited mass anti-Syrian protests in Lebanon coupled with intense international pressure that forced Syria to withdraw thousands of troops from Lebanon and end nearly three decades of military domination of its neighbor.
Many Lebanese blamed the killing on Syria and pro-Syrian Lebanese security chiefs. Syria and its Lebanese allies denied any involvement. Four Lebanese generals who ran the security services at the time Hariri was killed have been jailed for alleged involvement in the murder.
After the April withdrawal, anti-Syrian groups led by Saad Hariri were swept to power in parliamentary elections and a new government, largely independent of Syria, took power over the summer.
"...called for an international tribunal to try his father's killers " China, North Korea and Iran. /sarc
Did you know that Oct. is National Sarcastic Awareness Month?
Truly? or are you just being sarcastic? nyuk, nyuk. (I like national talk like a pirate day myself.)
I hope the trial of Saddam Hussein by Iraqis will be an example for the region and the world. It could lead other countries to seek local justice, not international tribunals.
Well profile searches on Al-Ahbash make it to be composed of various Islamic sub sects, and have long been used by Syria for dirty work. And it appears this group may have also fallen into allegience with UBL. If so, it is a bit strange perhaps, if UBL, Zawahiri, and Zarqawi feel Syria should be overthrown and become part of the Caliphate to be set up in Iraq, and at the same time the group is working for the Assad's, who is running the show so to speak. Ali Babba pitted against Ali Babba, but in all type of super convoluted hard to figure out forms. The only thing I would say without hesitation is their all frigen nuts.
Well Well Well! That certianly is interesting. Small world.
Good find.
Al-Ahbash:
Their History and Their Beliefs
Z. Alzamil
http://islamicweb.com/beliefs/cults/habasi_history.htm
Habashi's History:
This group called Ahbash relating to their first leader Abdullah Al-Harawi Al-Habashi. He came to Lebanon from Ethiopia (Habashah), that why they called him Al-habashi. He left Addis Ababa after he made a Fitnah there its called Kolob Fitnah. The Addis Ababa's people know him as Shikh Al-Fitnah according to evidence from some of his relative. What he did there, he work with the ruler of Endraji -the son in law for the Ethiopia's president Helaselasi - against Islamic Associations there, and he helped him to close all the Islamic National Association's schools for memorizing the Holy Quran in Hrar city in 1940 ( 1367 Hejrah), and they issued their judge on the schools' manager - Ibrahim Hassan- to jail him twenty three years, also he helped that ruler to internment the scholars there. He did that for those people, because they are Wahabi. For that reason, the people called him after that is the Shikh Al-Fitnah.
When he came to Lebanon, his followers there forgot his history, and he still does there - in Lebanon - as what he did before in Ethiopia, if you disagree with him in any problem you will be Kafir automatically, he said Ikhwan, Al-Albani and Ibn Baz are Kufars, Ibn Taymiyah is Kafir and Murtad and Zendeq and he asked his followers to lit Ibn Taymiyyah's books, Imam Al-thahabi is wicked, Sayd Sabeq is Majusi (The people who worship the fire) and in the other side he praised Jamal AbdulNasir because he killed Syed Qutob. He asked his followers to hit or kill anyone who has beliefs different than their beliefs, to make sure ask the Lebanon's Mosques Imams, ask Adnan Yasen, how many times they tried to kill him, ask Hassan Katuji, what he did for them to let them following him to hit an hurt him, ask Jamal Al-Thahabi and Abdul-Hamed Shanuha and others why they leave Lebanon. Try to listen to their Radio, and see what they described Shikh Muhammad Al-Juzo, they describe him as lewd man.
In front of all these things, we could not find him or his followers did something toward the Batiniyah, but what he did in one of his lectures, he encouraged the people to appeal the aid from AL-Albeit, and there is no problem to say O' Ali or O' Hussein ( Ya Ali , Ya Hussein).
He also, gave some strange fatwas for his followers, he allow Al-riba (the interest) Some people said he is Jew man, however there is no clear evidence for that, but at least he has a lot of the Jew's characteristics.
(click on link for the rest)
The Ahbash's belief system mixes elements of Sunni and Shi'ite theological doctrines with Sufi spiritualism. It includes the following tenets that are regularly publicized in Manar al-Huda, the society's journal:
* Islam's pluralist character and opposing the use of violence against the ruling authorities.
* Supporting the legitimacy of the Imama of Ali, and of his sons Hasan and Hussein, and upholding the teachings of Imam Hussein's son, Zayn al-Abidin. They believe that fighting on Imam Ali's side against Muawiyah was a duty and a Sunna. In this, al-Ahbash set themselves apart from all other Sunni jurists and are closer to Shi'ite Islam.
* Defending many Sufi beliefs and practices that are condemned by the Islamist groups as heresies. Such practices include giving allegiances to the pious ancestors, upholding the name of Allah by singing, visiting the shrines of saintly ancestors for their blessing and keeping meditation boxes in the mosques. The Ahbash enjoy the support of three traditional Sufi orders - Qadiriyya, Rifaiiyya, and Naqshabandiyya.
* Tolerating different forms of Islamic expression and opposing the absolutist standards of the Islamists.
* Rejecting the doctrine of Takfir (the charge of unbelief leveled by the Islamists against other Muslims) and emphasizing a relativistic standard in judging individuals and rulers.
* Opposing the establishment of Islamic order and the appointment of a caliph as espoused by most Islamic fundamentalist groups. The Ahbash endorse consociationalism as a political system and oppose the establishment of an Islamic theocratic state.1
Al-Ahbash opposes Islamic fundamentalist movements inspired by the writings of Ibn Taymiyya and Sayyid Qutb, like the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya. It also opposes revolutionary action against authority. Islamic fundamentalist groups in Lebanon see al-Ahbash as an imposter organization trying to use the power of the Syrian regime to increase its political influence in Lebanon. In August 1995, a radical Islamist group called the Islamic Band of Helpers (Usbat al-Ansar al-Islamiyya) assassinated the leader of Al-Ahbash, Sheikh Nizar al-Halabi. Three of the assailants were executed.
Halabi's deputy, Sheikh Husam Qaraqira, became the organization's leader thereafter. Not surprisingly, Qaraqira graduated from an Islamic seminary in Syria.
******************************
As I read this. Assuming it is accurate. I cannot help but feel their belief system is rather mixed up. Each element contradicts another element. And some believe strongly that UBL was highly influenced by the Qutbist philosophies that are clearly apposed by some of the Salafist and Wahaabist. Just threw it out for general consumption for the few that are analitical in nature. Valine don't feel you have to respond in a technical way. But if you do want to add, please do. Bottom line is their all frigen nuts.
The more I learn over time the more I can easily see how these peoples in time past where simple assasins by their very nature. Easily paid by any given group to go against a brother or cousin etc.. Their low life frigen nuts.
Thanks.
While they may not be nuts, they do a good impersonation of one.
Al-Ahbash are not implicated in the killing of the Hariri nor are any of its members. No evidence has been provided by the staunch ignorant campaign that has been launched by some Gulf based Arabic satellite channels including al-Jazeera. It seems there are some Wahhabi journalists inside al-Jazeera that are driving this smeer campaign against AICP (Association of Islamic Charitable Projects).
AICP had to go through al-Arabiyya TV channel to be able to refute the Wahhabi driven hate campaign and false accusations.
Below is an interview by AICP spokesman Shaykh Abd-al-Qadir al-Fakihani.
Lebanese Islamic group denies involvement in Al-Hariri killing
21 October 2005
BBC Monitoring Middle East
Text of telephone interview with spokesman for the Lebanese Sunni Islamic group Al-Ahbash, Shaykh Abd-al-Qadir al-Fakihani in Beirut by Muhammad Abu-Ubayd, broadcast live by Dubai-based news channel Al-Arabiya TV on 21 October
[Abu-Ubayd] On the line with us is Shaykh Abd-al-Qadir al-Fakihani, official in charge of the media of the Al-Ahbash movement in Lebanon. Shaykh Abd-al-Qadir: Your movement's name was mentioned in [head of the international investigation commission, Detlev] Mehlis's report for involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri. What is your comment on what is in the report?
[Al-Fakihani] Good morning and thank you for this telephone call. First, I would like to say that we have not yet had the time to fully read the report, but we - just like many others - heard about it from the satellite television stations' translation of the report after midnight. As we have heard, the report gives details of the investigations and what the suspects and eyewitnesses said. The report gives details of many issues. In fact, we were surprised by what happened last night in terms of the large and serious rush to report things perhaps in an effort to record a media scoop or out of competition with others. We had hoped that some news media would be careful in their translation of the report into Arabic. We hoped there would be no rush or distortion of the words of the report, especially since we are faced with a serious, sensitive and important issue that requires accuracy in translation and in conveying the real information. For example, a satellite television station, and I will not name it now, said Ahmad Abd-al-Al, an official in Al-Ahbash, is one of the key people involved in the assassination. I want to ask where this satellite channel got this information from. Is this television station an international investigation commission? Where do these words come in Mehlis's international report? There is no such thing. There is no accusation against Ahmad Abd-al-Al or the Al-Ahbash movement. All the report says is that contacts took place between Ahmad Abd-al-Al and Lebanese security officials after the assassination. Ahmad Abd-al-Al cooperated with them in his capacity as a Lebanese citizen and an official in Al-Ahbash movement. He cooperated out of his desire to reveal the truth about the one who killed or assassinated Rafiq al-Hariri.
[Abu-Ubayd] Why should Mehlis say a contact took place minutes before the assassination?
[Al-Fakihani] This is an important question and I thank you for it. A short while ago, the Presidential Palace in Lebanon issued a statement denying this. I was told a short while ago that the Presidential Palace denied that a contact took place between President Emile Lahhud and Ahmad Abd-al-Al minutes before the blast. I would like to add - and this is important because we have the right to fully respond - that a massacre occurred yesterday in some of the news media. You participated in that massacre.
[Abu-Ubayd] We conveyed facts and nothing more.
[Al-Fakihani] No, no, a satellite channel said Ahmad Abd-al-Al is a key suspect. This is a media massacre that has nothing to do with facts. I tell you right now: Where is the text, word or sentence in the report which says Ahmad Abd-al-Al is a key suspect? The report did not say at all he is a principal or non-principal suspect. After the assassination, Ahmad Abd-al-Al tried to help the Lebanese state, the Lebanese people and the lovers of Al-Hariri to uncover the perpetrators. Is this a charge against him?
We want to say that Al-Ahbash as an Islamic movement and as a current and association of projects has absolutely nothing to do with it. Some of yesterday's media massacre echoed mere dreams and wishes by some. We do not belong to such groups and these are not our principles.
The comment above about the Ahbash belonging to UBL is as silly and ludicrous as claiming that BUSH belongs to UBL!
The Ahbash are staunch enemies of the Wahhabis. The Wahhabis of Sidon (Lebanon) who are part of UBL's clandestine network killed the leader of the Ahbash in 1995 (Sheikh Nizar Al-Halabi), and not a bullet was shot. Al-Ahbash are a non-violent philanthropic group that have been misrepresented by the media and exploited by the Syrian intelligence service!
The previous post was to valin, sorry :)
The previous post was to valin, sorry :)
Was that post to me? :-)
Ping. See reply 12.
I had planned on signing off long ago. I will read and respond tommorow. Thanks.
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