Lebanese Officials Reject UN Report (Hariri Assassination)

Lebanese officials reject UN report

Friday 25 March 2005, 19:09 Makka Time, 16:09 GMT  

Senior Lebanese officials have rejected a UN report that blames Syria for tensions that led to the slaying of former premier Rafiq al-Hariri.

The officials on Friday said the UN mission exceeded its authority in accusing the government of negligence.

The report from a UN fact-finding mission was sharply critical of Syria and its allied Lebanese government, saying there was evidence Syria's president threatened al-Hariri with physical harm.

The report said that the Beirut government showed a lack of commitment to finding out who killed al-Hariri, bungling and outright manipulating the investigation.

Many Lebanese blame Syria and the Lebanese government for the slaying of al-Hariri - an opponent of Syrian domination - in a 14 February bomb blast. Damascus and Beirut deny any role in the killing.

 http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F64BBC5C-4D72-4519-9100-C792371C84BC.htm

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"The (UN) mission had no authority to allow it to reach these conclusions," he said. "We see this as infringement on the role of the Lebanese government."

The UN report said "it is clear that the assassination took place in a political and security context marked by an acute polarisation around the Syrian influence in Lebanon."

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/03/24/un.lebanon/index.html

"UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- A fact-finding team investigating last month's assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has blamed Syria's government for the political tension that preceded the killing, according to a U.N. report released Thursday.

The government of Syria "interfered" with governance in Lebanon in a heavy-handed way that was "the primary reason for the political polarization that ensued."

"It is obvious that this atmosphere provided the backdrop for the assassination of Mr. Hariri," the report says.

The investigative team was assembled by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to look into "the causes, circumstances and consequences of the assassination," which resulted in large-scale demonstrations against Syria's troop presence in Lebanon and the resignation of Prime Minister Omar Karami's pro-Syrian government."

Article continues at CNN link.

NT!

then why is the UN not blaming the US for its heavy handedness in Iraq and Afghanistan , , , and in South and Central America?

it is pretty hard to turn an ophthalmologist into Satan

"The UN report said the blast was caused by a surface explosion of about one tonne of TNT. The government has contended that a car bomber struck al-Hariri's motorcade."
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F64BBC5C-4D72-4519-9100-C792371C84BC.htm

Robert Fisk and others had speculated that "the explosives - estimated at 600kg - could have been buried beneath the seafront avenue."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8262.htm