A UN-backed tribunal on Tuesday condemned a member of Iranian-backed Hezbollah for plotting to assassinate former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in a 2005 bombing that set the stage for years of confrontation between the political forces of Lebanon.
The verdict comes because the Lebanese people are still suffering from the aftermath of an enormous explosion in Beirut that killed 178 people this month, and from a devastating economic collapse.
Hariri, a Sunni Muslim billionaire with close ties to the Arab allies of the West and Sunni Gulf, was seen as a threat to Iranian and Syrian influence in Lebanon. He led efforts to rebuild Beirut after the 1975-1990 civil war.
His son, Saad, also a former Lebanese prime minister, responded to the ruling by saying it was time for Hezbollah to take responsibility.
“Hezbollah is the one who has to make sacrifices today,” he said. “I repeat: We will not rest until punishment is done.”
The judges said they handed down their verdict over several hours, saying there was not enough evidence against three other men accused as accomplices in the bombing and they were released.
“The trial chamber is satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the prosecution has proved the guilt of Salim Jamil Ayyash on all counts,” said President Judge David Re.
The investigation and trial in the absence of four suspected Hezbollah members lasted 15 years and cost roughly $ 1 billion. The three other suspects are also suspected members of the Shiite Muslim group, but their role in the attack was not sufficiently established.
The 2,600-page statement found Ayyash affiliated with Hezbollah, and formally convicted him of a terrorist attack and the murder of Hariri and 21 others. He could face life in prison in the later sentence.
Judges said they found no evidence that Hezbollah’s leadership had played a part in the Syrian government, although it noted that days before he was assassinated, Hariri ended a call to end Syria from its then-occupied Lebanon. Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the bombing.
While the judges did not say who planned the attack, they said it was “very likely” that the decision to kill him was made only after a February 2, 2005, political meeting at which participants agreed to the “immediate and total withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. “
