Charbel: Security Apparatuses to Meet Saturday to ‘Coordinate Search’ for Hariri Murder Suspects
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel announced Friday that a meeting for all concerned security apparatuses will be held Saturday to coordinate search operations for the suspects charged by a U.N.-backed court in connection with the 2005 murder of ex-premier Rafik Hariri.
"We have to address this issue calmly and wisely to preserve the civil peace," Charbel told Agence France Presse.
Charbel confirmed that "the names of the four suspects revealed by the local media are the same as those mentioned in the arrest warrants submitted by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon."
He was referring to a sealed indictment and related arrest warrants delivered by the STL on Thursday to Prosecutor General Saeed Mirza.
Charbel told AFP that Mirza had given him the arrest warrants early Friday and confirmed the identity of the four suspects as Mustafa Badreddine, Salim Ayyash, Assad Sabra, and Hussein Aneissy.
He later denied in a press release on Friday that he had identified the four suspects’ affiliation to Hizbullah.
"If the situation explodes, everyone loses,” he stressed.
Charbel questioned media leaks on the indictment given that it is sealed and said this could harm efforts to nab suspects.
"Because of this, we have lost the element of surprise," he said. "We are going to look for the suspects but we don't know if we will find them."
The minister told LBC television on Thursday night that the indictment will not have any impact on the ground.
He stressed that the “accused are innocent until proven guilty.”
“Everything is under surveillance and control,” Charbel stressed.
He pointed out that there are between 15,000 and 20,000 outstanding arrest warrants in Lebanon.
The suspect, Badreddine is the brother-in-law of top Hizbullah operative Imad Mughniyeh, who was murdered in a 2008 bombing in Damascus.
He is suspected of having masterminded the February 14, 2005, seaside bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others.
Ayyash, another senior party official who holds U.S. citizenship, allegedly carried out the attack.
Sabra and Aneissy allegedly coordinated with Ahmed Abu Adas, a Palestinian who contacted al-Jazeera television following the Hariri assassination to claim responsibility for the bombing. (AFP - Naharnet)
01 July 2011, 13:15
40
But we dont know if we find them Minister Charbel said !!!!! They should be honored in absentia for their heroic act ..
Bye bye Mahkama ...
01 July 2011, 13:53
21
"Because of this, we have lost the element of surprise," he said. "We are going to look for the suspects but we don't know if we will find them."
ahahhahahahahahahaha this is hillarious. I guess lebanese have a recipe for everything including politicized international justice. I knew it would be something like this, "we cooperate" but not really :) Because we know USA cannot put sanctions on us, they cannot lose whatever little influence they have left.
01 July 2011, 14:12
00
"We are going to look for the suspects but we don't know if we will find them." = we don't plan to look too hard
01 July 2011, 15:46
03
Phenicien is nothing but an idiot. He`s the clown on this site. So let him play until they pick him up and bring him bach to hospital for the mentally impacted.
01 July 2011, 16:30
01
@phenicien, No need to flash your moral buncrupcy with every single article. You are a troll at best and most of your comments are void of any logical thinking and used exclusively to stir emotions among readers. Charbel, as well as his politcal pary should be accountable for any failure in finding the suspects.
01 July 2011, 18:04
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Who do you blame except the idiots that leaked the names. Who leaked the names and Why? These are the questions no one asks in lebanon as if it is expected for incompetence and corruption.
02 July 2011, 11:42
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As I mentioned before, The ISF have not found any of the killers of the Halba massacre of 2008. The only reason the SSNP did not retaliate (and they have a history of settling scores years later) because they were told it will lead to a civil war. Does that ring a bell?
02 July 2011, 12:09
00
What a joke! Now Charbel will emphasize how concerned he is and how hard he will try to find these dogs - lol! Meanwhile, he escorted them to the airport with their one way tickets to Iran!
What a joke this guy is...the jester of the ISF
