UPDATES

UN Tribunal Judge – Bashar Al-Assad ordered murder of Rafiq Hariri

Jun 22, 2011 | Tzvi Fleischer

UN Tribunal Judge - Bashar Al-Assad ordered murder of Rafiq Hariri
Rafik Hariri was assassinated in 2005

A new revelation has just added to the intense scrutiny already aimed at the repressive Assad regime in Syria in the wakeof its bloody efforts to suppress a popular revolt over the past 3 months.

Detlev Mehlis, a German judge who previously headed a UN enquiry into the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, has gone farther than even before in fingering the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, as directly responsible for the murder.

Speaking on German radio:

Detlev Mehlis said Syrian President Bashar Assad “ordered Hariri killed” because he feared the premier was cooperating with France and the US in order to overturn the Syrian regime and disarm Hezbollah.
Mehlis revealed during the interview, which was carried by many local news agencies, that the main reason for the order was UN Resolution 1559, which took aim at Syria.
He said witness testimonies gathered by his commission indicate that “the structure of the Syrian regime does not allow such a crime to be carried out without explicit orders from Assad”.

While it is true that Mehlis’ report from 2005 already fingered the Syrian regime as involved in the assassination, this is the first time he has publicly said that the order came directly from Assad. With EU moves for greater sanctions on Syria currently afoot, Mehlis’ statements can only aid the case of those saying the West must do more to force regime change in Syria.

(via Barry Rubin, who has his own interesting comments on the significance of these revelations.)

 

Tags:

RELATED ARTICLES


455daec3 C2a8 8752 C215 B7bd062c6bbc

After the Israel-Hamas ceasefire for hostages deal

Nov 29, 2023 | Update
Screenshot of Hamas bodycam footage as terrorists approach an Israeli vehicle during the terror organisation's October 7, 2023 attack in southern Israel, released by the IDF and GPO (Screenshot)

Horror on Video / International Law and the Hamas War

Oct 31, 2023 | Update
Sderot, Israel. 7th Oct, 2023. Bodies of dead Israelis lie on the ground following the attacks of Hamas (Image: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa/Alamy Live News)

Israel’s Sept. 11, only worse

Oct 11, 2023 | Update
Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu (r) gets his long-awaited face-to-face meeting with US President Joe Biden in New York (Photo: Avi Ohayon, Israeli Government Press Office)

Netanyahu meets Biden, other world leaders, in New York

Sep 27, 2023 | Update
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who gave an address on Aug. 28 threatening the US and laying out the Iranian-led axis's new "unity of the arenas" doctrine. (Photo: Shutterstock, mohammad kassir)

US-Iran prisoner swap deal set to go through

Sep 12, 2023 | Update
A rally of Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party last year: Yet outside these faithful, Abbas is not only largely unpopular, but his rule over the PA has seen the Palestinian parliament dissolved, judiciary sidelined, and his party hollowed out (Photo: Shutterstock, Anas-Mohammed)

The Crisis in the PA

Aug 28, 2023 | Update

SIGN UP FOR AIJAC EMAILS

RECENT POSTS

A barrage of words charged with venomous lies targets Australian Jews daily (Image: Shutterstock)

The Last Word: Words – Holy and hateful

The 2020 International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Ministerial Declaration (Image: US Dept of State)

Europa Europa: Empty words

Mghead2

Biblio File: The Education of an Editor

Memorial composed of photos of young Israelis killed during the terrorist attack on the NOVA Festival which took place on October 7, 2023 a few kilometers from Gaza (Image: Jose Hernandez/ Camera 51/ Shutterstock)

The world’s ‘Triple Standard’ against Israel endangers global security

Image: Abed Rahim Khatib/ Shutterstock

A plan for Gaza

A barrage of words charged with venomous lies targets Australian Jews daily (Image: Shutterstock)

The Last Word: Words – Holy and hateful

The 2020 International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Ministerial Declaration (Image: US Dept of State)

Europa Europa: Empty words

Mghead2

Biblio File: The Education of an Editor

Memorial composed of photos of young Israelis killed during the terrorist attack on the NOVA Festival which took place on October 7, 2023 a few kilometers from Gaza (Image: Jose Hernandez/ Camera 51/ Shutterstock)

The world’s ‘Triple Standard’ against Israel endangers global security

Image: Abed Rahim Khatib/ Shutterstock

A plan for Gaza

SORT BY TOPICS