Syria pledges to cooperate after UN Hariri murder report

[cal04]

Syria pledged to cooperate with the international community following a UN report on the murder of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri that implicated top Syrian figures and raised the threat of international sanctions. But officials in Damascus rejected the contents of the probe's report as biased and aimed at hurting Syria.
"Syria remains committed to the decisions of international legality, and we will continue to cooperate with the international community," foreign ministry counselor Riad Daudi told a press conference Saturday in the Syrian capital.

Daudi called the report "without any foundation," and "politicized with a view to harming Syria." Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmed Arnus also criticized the report by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, which also implicated senior Lebanese security officials in the February 14 murder, saying it was "based on preconceived ideas."
Syria will be the "only one to suffer the negative consequences of this report," he said.

Syria's state-run newspaper Tishrin echoed Saturday the retorts of Syrian officials who had rejected the results of the four-month-long UN probe as erroneous and politically motivated. "In a crime such as the one committed against Rafiq Hariri, the investigation lasts years and not a few months. The results of the report constitute a mix of contradictions." Syrians on the streets of the capital blamed the United States for skewing the report and also voiced concern.

"Americans want to extend their hegemony over Iraq across the entire region via this report," said Samir, a 28-year-old information technology professional.
"Why all this talk about Hariri? Why doesn't anyone do anything about the Palestinians who are being killed every day, not to mention the Iraqis?" asked a man who gave his name as Samir. "This is starting to become too much," said Joseph Yazigi, a businessman. "The Hariri assassination, the suicide of (Syrian Interior Minister) Ghazi Kanaan ten days ago, and now the Mehlis report. Where are we going?"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051022/wl_mideast_afp/lebanonsyriapolitics_051022142959

[Kagemusha]

1. Well the report was like, "Everyone says it had to be Syria."

So calling it based on preconceived ideas isn't really a stretch, just it's not just the UN's preconceived ideas but the movers and shakers in Lebanon that the UN talked to who believe - whether on a rational basis or on a basis of political convenience - that it just had to be Syria. Nice proof, huh?

[LynnTheDem]

2. And what the M$M isn't reporting is the fact that the UN report DOES NOT

say Syria done it; it says there is "probably cause" that Syrian (AND Lebanon) security officials were involved.

The M$M and of course bushCabal speak as if the UN report says "SYRIA GUILTY".

[bemildred]

3. Death of a minister (Obit/Bio of Kanaan)(Syria-Lebanon)

Under the post-war regime of Lebanon's pro-Syrian president Elias Hrawi, Kanaan became the kingmaker in Lebanese politics. He helped bring Hrawi to power and lobbied for his re-election in 1995 before pushing for the election of President Emile Lahoud in 1998. He helped market Lahoud in 1998 as an honest, reliable and non-sectarian officer who was dedicated to the liberation of South Lebanon.

He also worked against the return of Lebanon's former Army Commander Michel Aoun whom he had helped defeat and exile from Lebanon in the 1990s. In the late 1990s, Kanaan became close to Bashar Al-Assad, who prior to becoming president in 2000, had been in-charge of the Lebanon File. When Al-Assad became president in 2000, he worked closely with Kanaan to polish Syria's image in Lebanon. Part of this image change was to bring Kanaan back home in October 2002. Before Kanaan returned to Syria, Lahoud awarded him the Cedar Medal of the Commodore.

It was then that Kanaan became director of the Political Security Department of Syrian Intelligence. One journalist, observing his departure from Beirut in 2002, remarked: "Few major events in the history of this nation over the past 20 years took place without being shaped, in some way or another, by his presence." In 2004, Kanaan became minister of interior in the cabinet of Prime Minister Mohamed Naji Al-Otari. His appointment made waves in Syria since he was known as a strong leader who had controlled the "un-controllable" Lebanon. He snubbed everything around him, criticising the chaos in the Ministry of Interior and extended his anger to the Ministry of Information, saying that "the Syrian (official) media is unreadable."

Kanaan continued to be fixated with the affairs of Lebanon and reportedly was greatly disturbed by the renewal of Lahoud's mandate in 2004 claiming that this would quadruple the opposition to Syria. As expected, anti-Syrian sentiment mushroomed and led to the passing of UN Resolution 1559 calling on Syria to leave. The actual evacuation took place in April 2005.

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/765/re1.htm

[allemand]

4. I was pretty convinced that Syrians were involved in the killing until

I read the story this morning that at least one witness received a large sum of money for his testimony from an "unknown third party" and that he is somehow linked to Syrian dissidents.

It looked all so familiar, it was like a deja vu experience...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1869593

From what I have seen, the most damning parts of the report all relied heavily on information provided by a few witnesses, most of them probably Syrian defectors (or in the case of Sadiq of self-professed defectors). There was little hard evidence except some phone records. I guess the NSA or the Israelis could be very helpful in that regard. I'm sure, for example, that they recorded that "suspicious call" to the Lebanese president by the brother of one of the suspects.

[tatertop]

5. now that is interesting

[Mike03]

8. Yes, this is a very important story

that puts a whole new slant on this report.

[dutchdemocrat]

6. I just wrote about this...

With Rice pounding on Syria all last week and now Bolton and Bush leaping on the Syrialiban bandwagon - the thumping drumbeat to expanding the bloody war is continuing to echo throughout DC this week.

Of course none of this may even matter since Rice told the Foreign Affairs Committee that Congressional approval on an attack on Syria or Iran isn't really needed because it's covered under Bush's enhanced dictatorial rights bovinely passed after 9-11.

The mainstream media is now bundling Syria and Lebanon, in that order, in the blame game on the death of Lebanese Politician Rafik Hariri - despite the fact that, the lack of evidence implicating the brother of Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria, and other members of his inner circle, were dropped from the report that was sent to the UN Security Council. And that seems to have been for good reason.

Perception around the world is that leading politicians in Syria did indeed have a direct hand in the Lebanon bombing may now have some problems.

Der Spiegel, in Germany, revealed in an investigative piece today, that a central witness in UN-Hariri report is a convicted fraudster - who not only has been convicted several times for embezzlement and fraud (a la Chalabi), Zuheir Mohammed al-Siddiq received a large sum of money for his testimony from an unknown third party. Reportedly he called his brothers from Paris saying; "Now I'm a millionaire".

Contact between al Siddiq and the UN investigation team headed by Detlef Mehlis was allegedly made through Syrian dissidents - in the form of long-term Syrian renegade Rifaat al-Assad, an uncle of the Syrian President who more than once offered himself as "alternative President of Syria" to whomever would succeed in bringing about a "regime change". It turns out that it was al-Siddiq who implicated Bashar al-Asad's brother and brother-in-law in the killing - leading the current war mantra from Bushco to 'do something serious' about Syria.

According to the German article, the Syrian government has provided ample documentation to various western governments on al-Siddiq and the UN investigating Commission is well aware that it had been lied to by al-Saddiq, who at first had affirmed to have left Beirut one month before the assault on Rafiq al-Hariri, but then had to admit at the end of September his direct involvement in the implementation of the crime.

Other media reports in Lebanon and the Arab world state that Al-Siddiq claimed he took part in a meeting of Lebanese security officials who drew up a plan to kill Hariri. He then allegedly left Syria for a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia before ending up in France, where he was interviewed by U.N. investigators.

In a related article from AP via the Chinese Press it seems France's DST counterespionage service arrested al-Siddiq and he is expected to be extradited to Lebanon under order of judicial officials in Beirut.

With Harari's son and heir apparent now pointing his to the World Court for a trial - Washington's regime-change plans in Damascus may face an unclearable hurdle with incorruptable judges in The Hague setting the bar, keeping Bolton from armtwisting in New York.

Saad Hariri has clearly thrown his weight behind the pan-Arab cause - rather than throw oil on an internecine war fire which will perpetuate division in the Arab world.

"The involvement of a bunch of evildoers in the terrorist crime will not conceal the facts of the joint history with the Syrian people, who will remain for us, as they always were the martyr premier Rafik Hariri, a brotherly and dear people with whom we will look forward to serving (Arab) national causes," he said.

Syrian Press is naturally retaliating that the report should never have been released until it was completed and that the conspiracy has already started against Syria and Lebanon with the killing of Hariri. "The main goal is to target Syria as a regime refused to bow to American policy and as it is forming a front to confront the American and Zionist hegemony schemes in the Arab region." states Champress, an electronic newspaper published by the Independent Media Group in Damascus.

In Cairo, Former Assistant Egyptian Foreign Minister Abdullah al-Ash'al said: "The Mehlis report is confused and tries to interject Syria without giving any evidence." "...Mehlis mission is a political task and not judiciary and the report is based on a political conclusion and not on a judiciary one." Al-Ash'al added.

The actual UN Report is available here.

Funny, the UN report makes no mention of Syrian Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan, found dead last week in his office of an 'apparent suicide' three weeks after he was questioned by the Mehlis's team. Right.

Other reactions from the Arab Press, from the BBC.

Commentary in Syria's Al-Thawrah
The report relies on statements and reports by Lebanese political and media figures that are hostile to Syria... This shows that there is a premeditated intention to politicize the investigation and have it take a specific course that serves the policy of pressure on Syria.
Commentary in Syria's Tishrin
All laws in the world regard a suspect as innocent until proven guilty; therefore, on what ground is Mehlis incriminating Syria if he himself says that what he has in his hands is only 'conjecture?'
Article in Syria's Al-Thawrah
Despite all Syria's cooperation with the investigation committee, the report alleged that Syria's cooperation was neither sufficient nor substantial... this just shows preconceived opinions and prefabricated accusations against Syria.
Commentary in Lebanon's Al-Safir
The Mehlis report is a crucial step forward and will not be the last on the long road to a trial.
Editorial in Lebanon's L'Orient Le Jour
A big sigh of relief at the spectacle of this long-awaited truth which has risen inexorably to the surface.
Commentary in Lebanon's The Daily Star
The report... makes mixed but powerful political and legal statements, which spell trouble for Syria and the wider debilitating tradition of security-run Arab regimes... The most important question... is whether indigenous Arab political and legal forces will be able to harness the credibility, power and courage to continue challenging and taming the modern Arab security state, now that the combination of mass Lebanese citizen activism and legitimate international intervention have paved the way for this historic possibility.
Commentary in London-based Al-Hayat
This investigation was a historic chance for Lebanon, and it is unlikely that such an event will be repeated. Those who were looking for 'the truth' should now use it to restore what the civil war has destroyed, especially with regard to people's minds and spirits.
Editorial in Saudi Gazette
The Arabs are in a quandary... The worst-case scenario... is the well-founded fear among Arabs that the UN report will be exploited by the US and Israel to further their agenda in the region, similar to what the infamous UN-led investigation into Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction has done.
Editorial in Saudi Arab News
When a respected neutral investigator names members of the inner circle of President Bashar Assad as involved in the dastardly murder, what Syria must do is to prove the charges wrong with evidence that will withstand judicial scrutiny. But its first reaction has been one of angry denials. Damascus must do better than this.

[no_hypocrisy]

7. * will probably invade Syria anyway. Don't let the facts get in the

way of a good invasion.