New Evidence Points to Hezbollah in Hariri Murder (Lebanon)

Der Spiegel ^ | 5/23/2009 | Erich Follath

[mojito]

The United Nations special tribunal investigating the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri has reached surprising new conclusions -- and it is keeping them secret. According to information obtained by SPIEGEL, investigators now believe Hezbollah was behind the Hariri murder.

It was an act of virtually Shakespearean dimensions, a family tragedy involving murder and suicide, contrived and real tears -- and a good deal of big-time politics.

On February 14, 2005, Valentine's Day, at 12:56 p.m., a massive bomb exploded in front of the Hotel St. Georges in Beirut, just as the motorcade of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri passed by. The explosives ripped a crater two meters deep into the street, and the blast destroyed the local branch of Britain's HSBC Bank. Body parts were hurled as far as the roofs of surrounding buildings. Twenty-three people died in the explosion and ensuing inferno, including Hariri, his bodyguards and passersby.

The shock waves quickly spread across the Middle East. Why did Hariri have to die? Who carried out the attack and who was behind it? What did they hope to achieve politically?

[mojito]

Just in time for Lebanese elections in June.

[Islander7]

DUH! You think?

[JimSEA]

This can’t be true. Syria has said that it was the American CIA. Muslims never lie.

[forkinsocket]

In 2005, the billionaire began to outstrip the revolutionary leader in terms of popularity.

LOL Keep dreaming.

[Sherman Logan]

Captain Eid's team eventually identified eight mobile phones, all of which had been purchased on the same day in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. They were activated six weeks before the assassination, and they were used exclusively for communication among their users and -- with the exception of one case -- were no longer used after the attack. They were apparently tools of the hit team that carried out the terrorist attack.

Silly terrorists.

Everybody knows you destroy the old phone and get a new one every 24 hours. Or they will after this story breaks.