LEIDSCHENDAM, The Netherlands (Reuters) – A UN-backed tribunal on Tuesday condemned a member of Iran-backed Hezbollah for plotting to assassinate former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in a 2005 bombing that set the stage for years of confrontation between the political forces of Lebanon.
People wave Lebanese flags at the Special Tribunal for the Construction of Lebanon during a session of the United Nations-backed Lebanon Tribunal, which handed down a verdict in the case of four men who were tried in absentia for the bombing raid in 2005 that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 other people, in Leidschendam, the Netherlands 18 August 2020. REUTERS / Eva Plevier
Hariri, a Sunni Muslim billionaire, had close ties with the Arab allies of the West and Sunni Gulf, and was seen as a threat to Iranian and Syrian influence in Lebanon. He led efforts to rebuild Beirut after the 1975-1990 civil war.
Hariri’s son, Saad, as well as his assassinated father, a former Lebanese prime minister, responded to the verdict by promising not to rest until sentencing, and it was time for the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement to take responsibility to take.
“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 charges,” said President Judge David Re.
‘Mr Ayyash had a central role in carrying out the attack and contributed directly to it. Mr. Ayyash intended to assassinate Mr. Hariri and had the required knowledge of the circumstances of the killer mission, including that explosives were the means to use.
Prosecutors also determined that Ayyash was affiliated with Hezbollah, the tribunal found in its 2,600-page ruling.
Ayyash and the other men were tried in absentia. Ayyash, formally convicted of a terrorist attack and the murder of Hariri and 21 others, will be convicted at later hearings.
The three other suspects are also suspected members of the Shiite Muslim group, but their role in the attack was not sufficiently established.
Judges say they found no evidence that Hezbollah’s leadership as the Syrian government played a part in the attack that killed 21 others, although it noted that days before he was assassinated, Hariri ended a call for Syria to to end the current occupation of Lebanon. Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the February 14, 2005 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. ”
The condemnation 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.
POLARIAN COUNTRY
The assassination of Hariri plunged Lebanon into what was then the worst crisis since the war, setting the stage for years of confrontation between rival political forces.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that he was not involved in the trial and that if only members of the group were convicted, it would stand by their innocence.
Beirut tour guide Nada Nammour, 54, speaking before reading the verdict began, said the 2005 bombing was a crime that should be punished. “Lebanon must see law and justice.”
The ruling could complicate a tumultuous situation following the August 4 explosion at the port of Beirut, where authorities say unsafe stored ammonium nitrate has been detonated, dampened public unrest and led to government dismissal.
Hariri’s assassination removed a powerful Sunni leader and could lead to the further political expansion of Shiite power led by Hezbollah and its allies in Lebanon.
JUSTICE 15 YEARS OP
The investigation and trial in the absence of the four suspected Hezbollah members lasted 15 years and cost roughly $ 1 billion. Sentence is later carried out although Ayyash could face up to life imprisonment.
DNA evidence showed that the explosion that killed Hariri was carried out by a male suicide bomber who was never identified.
Prosecutors used phone footage to argue the men on trial – Ayyash, Hassan Habib Merhi, Assad Hassan Sabra and Hussein Hassan Oneissi – had been closely monitoring Hariri’s movements in the months leading up to the attack to give time and a to present false claim of liability as a deviation.
Court-appointed lawyers said there was no physical evidence linking the four to the crime and they should be released.
Report by Toby Sterling and Anthony Deutsch; Additional report by bureau Beirut; Edited by Samia Nakhoul, Nick Tattersall, William Maclean
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