Stomping on To Syria

[bemildred]

With Rice pounding on Syria all last week and now Bolton and Bush leaping on the Syrialiban bandwagon - the thumping drumbeat to expand the bloody war is continuing to echo throughout DC this week. As soon as the UN report on the death of Hariri came out the heat on Syria became even more palpable and has escalated.

Of course none of this matters perhaps - since Rice recently told the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee that expansion of the war was not off the table and would not rule out Bush hitting Syria and Iran next without Congress in his pocket. Could it somehow be covered under Bush's enhanced dictatorial rights bovinely passed for Iraq after 9-11?

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With Harari's son and heir apparent now pointing his finger 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 arm-twisting 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.

Empire Burlesque

[TexasLawyer]

1. Wow, wow, wow

I hadn't heard about this before-- the fraud allegations in Der Spiegel concerning the UN report:

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".

Great article-- thanks.

[TexasLawyer]

2. Al-Siddiq is the Syrian who is currently under arrest

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051018/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_hariri_probe;_ylt=AvBSkNIoWLmQQSgIlvr8O1cLewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA--

Syrian Charged in Hariri Probe in Lebanon By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer
Tue Oct 18, 6:13 PM ET

BEIRUT, Lebanon - A Lebanese judge charged a former Syrian intelligence officer with complicity in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, judicial officials said Tuesday.


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Magistrate Elias Eid accused Zuhair Mohammed Al-Siddiq, who was arrested by French police Monday, of having an indirect role in the Feb. 14 Beirut bomb blast that killed the former prime minister and 20 others. He was also accused of giving false testimony to investigators and misleading the U.N. investigation into Hariri's death. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give statements, said they had asked for Al-Siddiq, 45, to be extradited and were awaiting a French response.

Officers from France's counterespionage service arrested Al-Siddiq in a Paris suburb based on an international arrest warrant issued by Eid, who accused him of lying and misleading the U.N. investigation. Eid added the charge of complicity in Hariri's murder Tuesday based on material provided by U.N. investigators heading the probe, the officials said. The charge against Al-Siddiq comes a few days before U.N. investigators report to the Security Council on Hariri's killing. Many here blame Syria for the assassination, a charge Syria denies. Mehlis is to release his report by Oct. 24.

Arab media have for weeks described Al-Siddiq as being a leading witness in the Hariri probe. There was no mention of any charges against him until few days ago, after it became clear that he was not a credible witness after apparently lying about various aspects of the investigation. That has prompted some pro-Syrian officials to criticize the U.N. investigation for allegedly basing much of its findings on Al-Siddiq's testimony, since it turned out to be false.

Lebanese and Arab media reports have said 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 U.N. investigators interviewed him. The U.N. team has named four Lebanese generals, all close to Syria, as suspects in the assassination. Lebanon has arrested them.

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