Interpol Issues Red Notices for Suspects Wanted by STL

The global police agency Interpol issued on Wednesday issued Red Notices, or international wanted persons alerts, for four men indicted by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on suspicion of the 2005 murder of former prime minister Rafik Hariri.

Interpol said the names would be distributed to police forces but not made public at the request of the U.N.-backed court, although they have already been leaked in Beirut and confirmed as members of Hizbullah.

The identities of the suspects have been distributed to all 188 Interpol member states, whose police forces have been asked to assist in their arrest, a statement from the French-based agency said.

"We have and will continue to closely cooperate with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in its efforts to identify and bring to justice those responsible for the assassination of Rafik Hariri," said Interpol chief Ronald Noble.

“The two steps taken by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, firstly ensuring that these individuals were entered into INTERPOL’s databases and secondly their request for Red Notices will significantly restrict the ability of these people to cross international borders to try and avoid detection and is a powerful tool to help in their location and arrest,” Noble added.

On Sunday, a senior Lebanese official told Agence France Presse the warrants were for four senior Hizbullah officers who are accused of carrying out a "terrorist act" and of "killing Rafik Hariri and 21 others using explosives."

The Special Tribunal submitted a confidential indictment and arrest warrants for the four accused in June. The names were not released but were leaked to the Beirut media and later confirmed by the Lebanese government.

Mustafa Badreddine, Salim Ayyash, Assad Sabra and Hussein Anaissi are all members of Hizbullah.

In a July 2 speech, Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah boasted that no Lebanese government would be able to arrest the suspects.