Syrian officials remark on Masked Witness testimony
Lebanon-Syria-UN, Politics, 11/30/2005

An official Syrian source said that the statements made by the Syrian Hussam Taher Hussam in his press conference on Monday included details about how some Lebanese officials used intimidation and cajolement to extract a false testimony from him in front of the UN investigation committee into the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq al-Hariri.

The source added that the statement issued by this international committee stressed that this witness is the same witness who the committee listened to in Monte Verde last June.

The source said that while Syria expresses deep concern over the attempts by some people to mislead the investigation, it points out that seven paragraphs of the report presented to the UN Security Council depended on the testimony given by Hussam Taher Hussam. The report implicated Syria in the assassination.

What has been made clear over the past two days must bring back to mind that the testimony of Mohammad Zuheir al-Saddik, the evidence which Syria had already warned the UN committee and the world opinion about was that it was false. Syria at that time presented documents to the UN committee in this regard, but hadn't been dealt with seriously, the source added.

It said that Al-Saddik was turned from a witness into a suspect, and suspicions about him still exist but without verification. His testimony still exists as part of the report of the international committee issued on 25 October 2005.

The source stressed that it should be pointed out that Hussam Taher Hussam "cannot be credible in what he claimed before the UN investigation committee regarding accusations against Syria and a liar at the same time when he says in public that his previous testimony was false."

"Syria calls on the Arab and world opinion to scrutinize whatever is said about the proceedings of the investigation and the circumstances which preceded the bringing of witnesses before the UN investigation committee. Syria points out to the danger of using illegal and immoral tactics to mislead the investigation, and it expects from the Lebanese judicial authorities and from the UN committee to take enough measures to stop the course of misleading, blackmailing and distortion, and subsequently to investigate into this outrageous behavior out of our joint endeavor to uncover this crime," the source said, SANA reported.

Previous Stories:
  Damascus admits Shabaa farms as Lebanese   (11/29/2005)
  Masked witness harms credibility of UN Hariri assassination report, Syrian official   (11/29/2005)
  Sharaa -Siniora: our people have much in common   (11/29/2005)
  Syrian masked witness to UN investigation retracts his testimony   (11/29/2005)
  The Syrian Stance is not a Back off: Muaallim   (11/26/2005)

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