Syrian president meets Hariri assassination investigators
Syria-Lebanon-UN, Politics, 4/25/2006

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad today met Serge Brammertz, the head of the UN investigation into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic al-Hariri, and the accompanying delegation.

Brammertz also met with Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa, along with Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmed Arnous, and the legal advisor of the foreign ministry Riyad Al-Dawodi.

This comes at a time when accusations have been restated several days ago, made by a Syrian intelligence officer who is now in France, that the Syrian government was involved in the assassination. Also, the Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam, who in an unusual move left the government last year and is said to be living in France, has made similar accusations of top level Syrian government involvement in the assassination.

President Bashar al-Assad has strongly denied involvement. Ghazi Kanaan, the Syrian military official who was in charge of Lebanon for along time during the Syrian presence in Lebanon, and was said to have ruled Lebanon, and later became Syria's interior minister, was said to have committed suicide in his office after the assassination of Hariri. This being a very unusual suicide was looked at as a sign of involvement in the assassination of Hariri, or possibly as Kanaan himself before his suicide said, as a sign of Kanaan's distress of the lack of appreciation for the constructive role that he and Syria played in Lebanon; or that Kanaan may have taken the blame upon himself for the abrupt end to Syria's influence and turn events in Lebanon as a result of the assassination, which Syria have spent much effort to build.

There seems to be general agreement that the assassination operation was very sophisticated, thus requiring strong support behind it. Some of the mentioned of being involved, without final evidence provided yet, are the Lebanese intelligence (parts that are allied with Syria), the Syrian intelligence, the Israeli intelligence and/or their supporters.

Syria's dominance and said control of Lebanon's affairs and military intelligence at the time, joined by the Syrian officials rough and high-handed manners in dealing with Lebanese and their officials, seems to have made it an easy object for hate and the top suspect in the eyes of the public of being involved in the assassination.

Previous UN interim reports have hinted that al-Assad's top advisors have been involved. President al-Assad had said if anyone is involved in the assassination from the Syrian government, they would be dealt as traitors and handed to justice.

Previous Stories:
  Lahoud denounced regarding suspects in Hariri assassination   (4/25/2006)
  Syrian, Lebanese generals behind Hariri murder: Siddiq   (4/24/2006)
  Charlie Rose Show: Al-Assad denies Syrian link to Hariri's murder   (3/27/2006)

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