Have no fear, the UN is on the case.
Posted on 09/10/2006 11:47:45 AM PDT by knighthawk
A Syrian national suspected of involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said that Syrian President Bashar Assad and his Lebanese counterpart Emile Lahoud ordered the killing, the Lebanese Media reported Sunday.
Mohammed Zuhair Siddiq, the witness in the massive bombing that killed Hariri and 21 others in central Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005, accused Assad and Lahoud of giving the orders to assassinate Hariri, An Nahar daily newspaper said. In a live interview with Al-Arabiya channel late on Saturday from his residence in Paris, Siddiq said that he saw the car used in the assassination with his own eyes being prepared at the Syrian al-Zabadani camp, the daily said.
He added that he gave the former UN chief investigator Detlev Mehlis irrefutable documents, insisting that they are real pictures and not fabricated and that the 'negatives' are with him, the Al-Mustaqbal daily newspaper reported.
The Syrian witness said he has a recording that shows how the Syrian intelligence were trying to lure him to Damascus.
About his status as a wanted man by the Lebanese authorities, he stated that the French judiciary is convinced that he is a witness and not an accused. The French authorities detained Siddiq near Paris on Oct. 16, 2005 when the U.N. commission recommended his arrest on grounds of giving false evidence to UN investigators.
In December 2005, France refused to hand over Siddiq to Lebanon fearing he could face the death penalty for his alleged involvement in the murder.
Have no fear, the UN is on the case.
Middle East list
If people want on or off this list, please let me know.
Thank God that the Lebanese Constitution provides that the President must be a Christian, and that Emile Lahoud fits the bill. /sarcasm/
In other news, scientists have determined that the sky is blue.
"The foundations of the new Lebanese state were established in 1943 by an unwritten agreement between the two most prominent Christian and Muslim leaders, Khuri and Sulh. The contents of this agreement, later known as the National Pact or National Covenant (al Mithaq al Watani), were approved and supported by their followers.
The National Pact laid down four principles. First, Lebanon was to be a completely independent state. The Christian communities were to cease identifying with the West; in return, the Muslim communities were to protect the independence of Lebanon and prevent its merger with any Arab state. Second, although Lebanon is an Arab country with Arabic as its official language, it could not cut off its spiritual and intellectual ties with the West, which had helped it attain such a notable degree of progress. Third, Lebanon, as a member of the family of Arab states, should cooperate with the other Arab states, and in case of conflict among them, it should not side with one state against another. Fourth, public offices should be distributed proportionally among the recognized religious groups, but in technical positions preference should be given to competence without regard to confessional considerations. Moreover, the three top government positions should be distributed as follows: the president of the republic should be a Maronite; the prime minister, a Sunni Muslim; and the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, a Shia Muslim. The ratio of deputies was to be six Christians to five Muslims.
From the beginning, the balance provided for in the National Pact was fragile. Many observers believed that any serious internal or external pressure might threaten the stability of the Lebanese political system, as was to happen in 1975."
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+lb0029)
Unless one believes the Library of Congress to be a questionable source.
The problem with Lahoud is this from Wikipedia:
"Under the Lebanese constitution, the President's term was limited to one six-year term. However, under pressure from Syria, in 2004, the parliament voted to extend his term for an additional three years to 2007 Lebanese opposition figures and international critics claim that the extension was illegal because the constitution was amended under foreign duress.
Criticism
Maronite Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt have been vocal critics. Assassinated Sunni former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who had worked under Syrian support for many years, clashed with Damascus over the extension of Lahoud's term, and resigned in protest. These figures view him as a puppet controlled by the Syrians.
Consider the (IMHO unreliable) source. Wiki is OK for root info. The Library of Congress is somewhat more vetted, perhaps ;) Imagine the possibilities if the humble me, ARMSF, could edit and byline anything and everything without any checks and balances. For example, I believe that there are 30 states in Mexico. I believe that the state names are: Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Colima, Compeche, Distrito Federal, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerro, Hidalgo, Michoacan, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Potosi, Puebla, Quintana Roo, San Luis, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Vera Cruz, Yucatan, Zacatecas,
I further believe that several of these Mexican states are involved in armed conflict with the USA. Wiki makes no mention of this.
This is from the Washington Post: "Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said yesterday that Lebanon's president, a Syrian ally, should resign following the indictment of four top intelligence and security officials in the Feb. 14 assassination of the country's leading reformer.
In an interview, Siniora also said that President Emile Lahoud had been imposed on Lebanon by Syria, and that the majority of Lebanese, including his own Christian community, now oppose him."
So do you like Lahoud or something?
Hilarious. I openly call for the extermination of Lahoud and his ilk; to include the removal of ALL Lebanese and Syrian influence. The polite word "like" does not fit. To fully explain my position: I do not blindly support the Israeli position. I detest the violent palli position. The Syrian, KSA, and Iranian position must be overthrown. Pakistan was obviously threatened after 9/11. Else Libya would have jumped ugly. Libya went TU.
Oh I see. I think we agree then.
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