The chief UN investigator into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri went to Syria yesterday to interview President Bashar Assad, senior Lebanese security officials said.
It will be the first time that Assad answers questions about Hariri's assassination from the UN commission appointed by the Security Council. Assad declined two previous requests for interviews filed last year by the commission, which is based in Beirut.
Chief UN investigator Serge Brammertz will also talk to Vice-President Farouk al-Sharaa about Syria's alleged involvement in the massive truck bombing that killed Hariri and 20 people others on Feb. 14, last year, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
According to testimony to the UN investigation, Assad threatened Prime Minister Hariri when they met at the Syrian president's offices in August 2004. Assad allegedly said he wanted the term of Lebanon's pro-Syrian president to be extended, a move that Hariri was known to oppose.
However, Assad has told reporters that he did not threaten Hariri and he has also denied any Syrian role in the former Lebanese prime minister's murder.
Lebanese officials at the Masna crossing point on the Syrian border said Brammertz entered Syria at about 9am Lebanese time in convoy of 10 bulletproof vehicles.
Lebanese troops guarded the road that the convoy took to the border, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to the press.
In the sweltering streets of Jakarta, buskers carry towering, hollow puppets and pass around a bucket for donations. Now, they fear becoming outlaws. City authorities said they would crack down on use of the sacred ondel-ondel puppets, which can stand as tall as a truck, and they are drafting legislation to remove what they view as a street nuisance. Performances featuring the puppets — originally used by Jakarta’s Betawi people to ward off evil spirits — would be allowed only at set events. The ban could leave many ondel-ondel buskers in Jakarta jobless. “I am confused and anxious. I fear getting raided or even
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