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UN:
HEAD OF UN PROBE INTO HARIRI ASSASSINATION 'MORE CONFIDENT THAN EVER' OF
SUCCESS: 05/12/2007 (MaximsNews Network)
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UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network /
- 05 December 2007 --
The head of the United Nations probe into the
assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri is “more
confident and optimistic than ever that the investigation can be concluded
successfully,” he told the Security Council today, explaining that his team
has been able to answer many key questions regarding the February 2005 attack.
Serge
Brammertz – who will step down later this month as head of the International
Independent Investigation Commission (IIIC) – said he could not yet predict
when the inquiry into the massive car bombing in downtown Beirut, which killed
Mr. Hariri and 22 others, would be wrapped up.
“Conducting
an investigation is never an exact science,” he said in a briefing on the
latest report of the IIIC. “The completion of the investigation will depend on
the final results of several ongoing projects and on the cooperation of all
States,” adding that it also relied on the willingness of additional witnesses
to come forward.
Mr.
Brammertz, who is being succeeded as investigation chief by Daniel Bellemare of
Canada, stressed that it was paramount that the IIIC continues to receive the
administrative and resource support it needs to carry out its work in the months
ahead.
“When
I am asked whether I am satisfied with the progress made so far, my answer is
absolutely yes. Important results have been achieved in many areas of the
investigation despite the numerous challenges the Commission has faced. Based on
the progress made in recent months, I am more confident and optimistic than ever
that the investigation can be concluded successfully.”
Mr.
Brammertz did not reveal many details about the IIIC’s findings so far, saying
his Office was increasingly cautious about the release of information given that
it does not want to compromise any future legal process at the planned Special
Tribunal for Lebanon, being set up to deal with the Hariri killing and up to 18
other politically-related murders in the country in recent years.
But he
noted that, based on hundreds of interviews and examinations, investigators have
been able to answer or substantially narrow the focus on many of the key
questions surrounding the bombing, including the possible motive, the identity
of the suicide bomber and details about the persons who conducted active
surveillance on Mr. Hariri ahead of the attack.
Ahmed
Abu Addas, who appeared in a video claiming responsibility for the
assassination, was not the suicide bomber, Mr. Brammertz said, but may still be
connected to the attack.
He added
that investigators have gathered large amounts of evidence about the video, the
Mitsubishi van in which the bomb exploded, the crime scene and many other
forensic issues.
Drawing
on tests of DNA and teeth and other information, the IIIC “has developed one
principal hypothesis” about the identity of the suicide bomber, especially the
specific area of the Middle East from which the young male is thought to have
originated. But more tests need to be conducted to confirm the hypothesis.
Expert
findings indicate the bomber was exposed “to significant quantities of a
specific type of lead, possibly through proximity to military ammunition,
between the ages of 16 and 20,” which could show the man was living near an
area of conflict or one where weapons were regularly used, such as a military
training camp.
“New
expert findings have provided additional information on the possible place of
birth of the unidentified male, as well as further details on the location where
he may have spent his childhood.”
Turning
to another political assassination in Lebanon, the death of the parliamentarian
Antoine Ghanem in September this year following a car bombing in eastern Beirut,
Mr. Brammertz said the initial findings indicated that the perpetrators were
able to conduct surveillance and mobilize a vehicle-borne improvised explosive
device (IED) “within a very short window of time.
“This
and other preliminary results in other cases suggest that the perpetrators had
– and most likely still have – operational capabilities available in
Beirut.”
Mr.
Brammertz also said that investigations so far suggest that “some operational
links exist” between the various attacks being probed by the Commission.
Labels: United
Nations, U.N.,
~~~~~
MaximsNews.com, An Independent Voice from the
U.N., provides commentary and analysis from
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(Jordan), HRH Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein
(Jordan), Sir Brian Urquhart, Hans Blix, Amb.
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Dr. Nafis Sadik, Shashi Tharoor, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Noeleen Heyzer,
Masood Haider, Kerry
Kennedy, Ian Williams, Stephen Schlesinger, Sen.
Timothy E. Wirth, Marc Morial, Amb. Jayantha
Dhanapala (Sri Lanka), Amb. Pierre Schori
(Sweden), Amb. William H. Luers, Susan Roosevelt
Weld, Rory Kennedy, Mehri
Madarshahi, J. Michael Adams, Gloria Feldt,
Jeffrey Laurenti, Rodney D. Smith, Ashley
Bommer, Rory
O'Connor, Genevieve Stamper, Max Stamper and
others.
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