Posted on 10/30/2007 10:52:18 AM PDT by mojito
Lebanese parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri revealed on Tuesday that he has evidence of Syrian assassination plots against himself and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
Hariri made the claim in response to a question about alleged assassination plots against the leaders by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law and head of intelligence Assef Shawqat.
"We have intelligence about this and we are following it up," he told reporters.
"The intelligence is correct and our security services are working on it.
"There is cooperation between Lebanese security services and Arab security services to avoid such assassinations," he said, without specifying which countries were helping in the investigations.
Asked about Hariri's comments, an official at the Beirut office of the Western-backed Siniora said: "It is true and we have been informed about it."
Several anti-Syrian figures have been assassinated in Lebanon since Hariri's own father and former premier Rafiq was killed in a February 2005 bombing.
An initial UN inquiry into that killing implicated Damascus and its allies in Lebanon, where four pro-Syrian security chiefs were arrested in late 2005. Syria has vehemently denied any involvement.
Saad has been at the vanguard of Lebanese efforts to set up a UN-backed tribunal to judge those responsible for his father's death, saying earlier this month that "what is happening in Lebanon today is a destabilizing coup."
Political tensions are running high as rival pro and anti-Syrian factions in Lebanon have failed to agree on a consensus candidate to succeed President Emile Lahoud, a Damascus protege whose term in office ends next month.
In the latest political assassination, six people were killed last month in a Beirut car bombing, including anti-Syrian MP Antoine Ghanem, just days before parliament was due to meet to choose a new president.
MPs are now set to meet on November 12 in a last-ditch bid to elect a head of state, and avoid further political turmoil amid fears that the impasse over the presidency could lead to two rival governments.
Hariri said his talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo focused on the vote and "the interference of certain states to prevent the holding of these elections."
He said Mubarak had promised to help prevent "any interference in the Lebanese presidential election or anything that might prejudice the stability of Lebanon."
He noted that the most recent political assassination came a few days after parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a member of the pro-Syrian opposition, appealed for dialogue.
"We feel that this is a way of undermining Lebanese dialogue and the Lebanese consensus," he said.
Hariri earlier this month appealed for increased international pressure to set up a court to try suspects in the assassination of his billionaire father.
"We asked for a harder position from the United Nations in the face of those assassinations," Hariri said told UN chief Ban Ki-moon in New York on October 9.
Things are way too scary now. Add Egypt with nukes, Russia flexing their muscle, Syria and Iran up to no good...
funny, when i read the headline, i thought it might have been an article from four years ago
Speaker of State Pelosi in charge? God help us all.
Scuttlebutt has her leadershippost on thin ice, her lamp is lit and fellow dems are letting it burn.. FoR now.
It’s a sad sight to once again see Lebanon under attack from its neighbors and used all too oft as a launching platform for attacks on Israel... It doesn’t help to have certain dems who meddle where they ought not.
I think about 5 Lebanese Hellfire equipped Predator drones would nip this little problem...right at the root.
High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]
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Agreed that Lebanon will be in a war soon, but it'll probably be Hizbollah getting destroyed there. They, and their Syrian backers, will probably be fighting for their lives against Israel.
Weekend of November 9th or December 7th seem like a good kick-off .............................. FRegards
I’m sure this is just hearsay. ;’)
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