[LCM Articles] Brammertz to Implicate Syria for 1st Time in Hariri's Murder

[Michel Rbeiz]

http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/getstory?openform&06C10C1B2661391AC22571F400324B8F

Chief U.N. investigator Serge Brammertz will reveal in his report Monday
Syria's direct involvement in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination, the
Saudi Okaz newspaper reported.
The report, that Brammertz will hand over to U.N. Secretary General Kofi
Annan in New York at 9:30 am Monday, will disclose details about a tape that
former Syrian Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan had recorded about the planning
of the Feb. 14, 2005 murder.

The newspaper did not mention whether the recording was made on a videotape
or a cassette. But it said that senior Syrian officers and former Lebanese
Environment Minister Wiam Wahhab planned the assassination.

It added that Kanaan cut a deal with Brammertz's predecessor Detlev Mehlis
to escape to Cyprus via the Lebanese northern port city of Tripoli. But a
close person to Kanaan had reported him to the Syrian authorities that later
announced his suicide.

Okaz also said that Brammertz will disclose in his second report in-depth
information about the planning and execution of Hariri's assassination.

It added that the report will also reveal the names of those involved in the
murder, including Syrian President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law Gen. Assef
Shawkat and Bahjat Suleiman, the former head of the Security Department.

The newspaper said that the name of an Iraqi, who detonated the white
Mitsubishi van that was seen at the site of the one-ton bomb explosion on
Beirut's seafront, will be made public.

-- 
Michel Rbeiz
============================
Mail: PO Box 20141, DHCC, New York, NY 10017
Email: mrbeiz at alum.mit.edu
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