Free Republic

1. Ahmad Abu Adass In 2005, the last year of his life, Ahmad Abu Adass was 22 and still living with his parents in Beirut, Lebanon. He was kind and liked people, his friends later told investigators, but none of them thought he was very sophisticated. The best way to describe him was simple, one said. He was generous and a little naïve. He was very weak, physically. A Sunni Muslim of Palestinian descent, Adass had become interested in religion and now spent many hours at the Arab University Mosque near his home. It was there, after a prayer session,...

Asharq Al-Awsat, New York - Asharq Al Awsat exclusively interviews Detlev Mehlis, Head of the United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission established pursuant to Security Council resolution 1595 into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri. FAKHRY: Let me start, firstly, by asking you about the reasons as to why you are leaving the Investigation Commission. Are you not concerned that it might portray the wrong image about where this investigation is headed? MEHLIS: No. As I mentioned before, my leaving has nothing to do with the investigation which is running well. All of the investigators [will] stay....

Asharq Al-Awsat exclusive interview with U.N Chief investigator, Detlev Mehlis Asharq Al-Awsat, New York - Asharq Al Awsat exclusively interviews Detlev Mehlis, Head of the United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission established pursuant to Security Council resolution 1595 into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri. FAKHRY: Let me start, firstly, by asking you about the reasons as to why you are leaving the Investigation Commission. Are you not concerned that it might portray the wrong image about where this investigation is headed? MEHLIS: No. As I mentioned before, my leaving has nothing to do with the...

BEIRUT, (Reuters) - A U.N. inquiry into the murder of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri will summon more Syrian witnesses in the next few days, its chief investigator Detlev Mehlis was quoted on Saturday as saying. In an interview published in Lebanon's al-Mustaqbal newspaper, which was owned by the murdered ex-premier, Mehlis said he would ask Syria in the next few days if U.N. investigators could question new Syrian witnesses in Vienna, but did not identify them. International investigators questioned five Syrian officials in the Austrian capital this week in connection with the Feb. 14 truck bomb that killed...

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Syria is trying to obstruct the U.N. investigation into the assassination of Lebanon's Rafik Hariri, but it will not succeed, the head of the U.N. commission into the killing of the former prime minister said in remarks published Thursday. Detlev Mehlis was speaking of Syria's repeated television broadcasts of a Syrian witness to the commission who recanted his testimony, claiming he had been bribed to give false evidence by the son of Hariri, Lebanese legislator Saad Hariri. Hariri's aides have denied the allegation. In a rare briefing to Lebanese newspapers, Mehlis said this week's TV appearances...

BEIRUT: It would be "hard" for the UN probe into the murder of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri to "give a definitive recommendation" on the case, according to U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Bolton. Bolton, who hoped the investigation "doesn't take too long to resolve," said he was concerned the probe's mandate might expire before it arrives at a conclusion. "Days go by, and we are getting close to the end of the probe's mandate on December 15," Bolton said, adding: "Each day that goes by makes it harder for UN chief investigator Detlev Mehlis and his colleagues to...

BEIRUT, Lebanon, AP -The chief U.N. investigator into the assassination of a former Lebanese premier, armed with new powers from the Security Council, has summoned six senior Syrian intelligence officers for questioning, a Lebanese official said Saturday. The officers include Syrian President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law. The official, close to the U.N. team investigating former Premier Rafik Hariri's killing, said chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis sent the summons to the Syrian government via the United Nations on Wednesday. Mehlis has sent a letter to Secretary-General Kofi Annan demanding to question at least six Syrian officials, the official told The Associated Press....

UNITED NATIONS - The lead investigator in the assassination of a top Lebanese politician acknowledged Friday that he deleted references from his report implicating two relatives of Syria's president, raising questions about whether the U.N. tried to soften the inquiry's findings. The report, which accused key Syrian and Lebanese security officials of orchestrating the Feb. 14 bombing that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 20 others, was nonetheless a stinging rebuke of Damascus' regime. The findings caused an uproar in the region and brought swift denials of involvement from the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad. In an...