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 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...

The UN will extend the mandate of the commission of inquiry into Hariri’s murder, but will not permit it to autonomously investigate the other assassinations. Mehlis thinks the tension between Syria and Hariri provided a “good motive” for the attack on the Lebanese leader. There is a new “black list” of politicians to kill. ------------------------------------------------------------- Beirut (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The work of the international commission of inquiry into the murder of the former prime minister Rafic Hariri will go ahead. But there will be only “collaboration” with entities set up by the Lebanese authorities to investigate attacks which took place after...

Chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis has set Nov. 25 as the final deadline for the Assad regime to bow to his demand to interrogate 6 senior Syrian intelligence officers over their role in Lebanon's five-time Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination, the London-based Al Hayat newspaper reported on Thursday. Al Hayat quoted diplomatic sources in London as saying the Berlin prosecutor was awaiting at his Monteverde headquarters near Beirut Syria's official response by Friday to his demand that the 6, including President Assad's brother-in-law Gen. Assef Shawkat, be interrogated in either Vienna or Geneva. Although Syria is still insisting on signing...

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...

It is possible that last second alterations were made to the Detlev Mehlis report due to pressure by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Israel Radio reported Friday afternoon. A diplomatic source reported that Annan was interested in removing the name of Bashar Assad's brother and brother-in-law, along with other important Syrian officials, from the list of suspects in the Hariri killing. Assad's brother and brother-in-law had previously been implicated in having involvement in the Hariri Assassination. Annan, according to speculations, was concerned that the harsh report could lead to instability in Syria, perhaps even to an overthrow of the Assad...