This morning Now Lebanon published an article in which the former investigator into the assassination of Rafiq Hariri, Detlev Mehlis, explained some of the facts surrounding the investigation. Most importantly, he dismissed criticism coming form the March 8/Hezbollah camp that the investigation has been politicized.
The pro-Syrian “opposition” has been celebrating the release recently of the four heads of security that were suspected of having a hand in the assassination and who remain under suspicion. Hezbollah in particular has been eager (for an unstated and yet unclear reason) to show these generals as innocent victims of the March 14 camp and has been saying that they were nothing less than political prisoners for the last four years.
This issue would not be serious were not so many Lebanese willing to believe these lies because in Lebanon the majority are political sheep, they follow blindly what their political masters tell them to.
Some of the myths that Mehlis debunks in this article are:
- The generals were being held in accordance with the Lebanese law, explaining that the law allows for indefinite detention so long as the investigation appears to be making progress. (Interestingly, someone in the Aoun camp recently proposed a law to change this by putting a time limit on detention.)
- The arrest decision was issued by the investigative commission as an entity and not him as an individual and thus is unaffected by changes in the makeup of the commission.
- The arrest was not based only on the evidence provided by Al-Siddiq whose accounts were subsequently discredited by the fact that he himself came under suspicion.
- The validity of the accounts of Al-Siddiq and Husam Husam remain unclear despite what the March 8 camp wants people to believe.
- The commission was not obsessed with accusing Syria as some critics claim. Leeds on evidence accusing Israel and Islamic fundamentalists were pursued but proved insignificant. Among these was a claim by the Syria minister Buthaina Shaaban that she had evidence of Israel’s complicity in the assassination, but when asked to provide this evidence nothing was forthcoming.
Clearly, some people in March 8 know exactly who killed Rafic Hariri and they are trying to run from responsibility. Syria or some Lebanese group close to Syria was involved, that is the most likely at this point.
If Ditlev Milis was not politically involved he would not have been quickly replaced and the investigative team would have allowed lawyers to be present during the investigations. Milis proclamations are not convincing until he officially submits to the international court and answers to his behaviors.
Adonis,
So, you think Milis was politically involved and that this led to his being replaced? Who replaced him? And if he was replaced for being too politically involved, then why did the new commissioner not overturn his decisions? You don’t realize the sea of contradictions that you swim in, do you?
EB