Saturday, May 23, 2009

'Int'l tribunal has evidence linking Hariri murder to Hizbullah'

JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

A United Nations-backed tribunal has reached a breakthrough in the investigation of the 2005 murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, according to a report published on the online edition of Der Spiegel on Saturday. According to the report, the special international body put together to investigate the murder has found substantial evidence linking the bomb which killed Hariri and 23 others to Hizbullah.

Der Spiegel quoted unnamed sources close to the investigation as explaining that the case had been "cracked" using technology which sifted through lists of cell phones used in and around the area of Beirut in which Hariri was killed. Six phone numbers, according to the report, were used leading up to the attack, and fell out of usage directly afterwards. The source said that these phones were used by the Hizbullah cell which carried out the attack.

According to Der Spiegel's source, the network was uncovered due to a faux pas on the part of one of the terrorists, who used a "hot" phone to call his girlfriend.

The report also stated that investigators believe
top Hizbullah operative Haj Salim had masterminded the Hariri murder. Salim allegedly reports directly to the terrorist group's chief, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.

Links were also said to have been found between Hizbullah and the explosives found at the scene of the attack.

The Der Spiegel report noted that there was much speculation surrounding the reasons that the findings had not been made public.

Since its formation in March, little has come out of the UN-backed investigation, apart from the release of four Lebanese former security chiefs due to insufficient evidence to press charges against them in connection to Hariri's murder.

Hizbullah chief Nasrallah criticized the tribunal, calling the release "evidence that the international investigation was politicized."

AP contributed to this report
This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1242212448088&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

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