The head of the UN probe into the slaying of Lebanon's ex-premier Rafiq Hariri for the first time unequivocally accused Syria of being behind the assassination, in an interview published yesterday.
Despite repeated Syrian denials of involvement, outgoing German magistrate Detlev Mehlis, who has been heading the investigation since June, showed not a flicker of doubt that its "authorities" were responsible.
Asked by the Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat if he was "perfectly convinced of Syria's responsibility in the murder of Hariri," Mehlis said: "Yes. The Syrian authorities are responsible," without giving further details. His comments are set to further ratchet up the pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, coming just after the latest in a slew of killings of anti-Syrian critics that have hit Lebanon following the Hariri murder.
Mehlis insisted that "there is a link between the attacks that hit Lebanon" since Hariri's murder in February and the killing Monday in a massive car bomb of anti-Syrian MP and press magnate Gibran Tueni.
Mehlis, whose mandate ended Thursday and is waiting for a replacement to be chosen, accused some parties of seeking "to deviate the course of the investigation," in a reference to Syrian witness Hussam Hussam.
A former Syrian intelligence officer, Hussam initially told UN investigators that the brother and brother-in-law of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were implicated in the Hariri murder before recanting his testimony last month.
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