Free Republic

Deflecting increasing criticism for his administration's role in the assassination of former Lebaneese prime minister Rafik Hariri, Syrian President Bashar Assad claimed Saturday that Israel was responsible for the death of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yassir Arafat. "Among the many assassinations that Israel has carried out in a systemic and organized manner, the most dangerous one was the assassination of Arafat," Assad said, addressing a conference of Arab lawyers. Assad, speaking in Damascus, added that "this was done secretly, under the watching eyes of the world. But no country responded - as if nothing had happened at all." The president, facing...

UNITED NATIONS -- U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said Wednesday that Syria's leader refused to meet U.N. investigators probing the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister, but would be required to submit to questioning under a proposed new U.N. resolution. Bolton's comments were the first confirmation that the investigation led by U.N. prosecutor Detlev Mehlis had tried to talk to President Bashar Assad about the Feb. 14 car bomb in Beirut that killed Rafik Hariri and 20 others. The Syrian president wasn't mentioned in Mehlis' report to the Security Council last week, which implicated top Syrian and Lebanese security officials in...