Traumatized Lebanon awaits Rafic Hariri murder verdict

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A man walks past a portrait of slain Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri on the ninth anniversary of his death on February 14, 2014. (AFP/File Photo)
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Updated 18 August 2020
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Traumatized Lebanon awaits Rafic Hariri murder verdict

  • The popular former prime minister died on Feb. 14, 2005, in a massive explosion in the heart of Beirut
  • The tribunal was set up in 2007 under a UN Security Council resolution owing to deep divisions in Lebanon

BEIRUT: A special tribunal created by the UN to investigate the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri over 15 years ago is set to deliver its long-awaited verdict in the Netherlands today.

Hariri was murdered on Feb. 14, 2005, when a bomber detonated a van next to his armored convoy in Beirut’s St. George area. The attack killed 21 other civilians, including legislator Bassel Fleihan, and injured 226.

The assassination triggered massive public demonstrations, leading to the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon and an end to Damascus’ 30-year security and political guardianship of the country.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) will deliver its verdict in Leidschendam, near the Hague, two weeks after explosions at the Port of Beirut left 178 people dead and another 6,000 injured.

The UN set up the STL in February 2006 at the request of the Lebanese government, making it the first international court in modern history to try those accused of political assassination.

Four people who allegedly led the deadly attack — Salim Jamil Ayyash, 56; Assad Hassan Sabra, 43; Hussein Hassan Onaisi, 46; and Hassan Habib Merhi, 54 — went on trial on Jan. 16, 2014, at the STL First Instance Court.

The court overturned proceedings against Mustafa Amin Badr Al-Din, the suspected mastermind believed to have died in Damascus in May 2016. However, the chamber’s decision did not rule out continuing his case if, in the future, evidence emerged that he was still alive.

The four defendants, who are still in hiding, were tried in absentia. While the pleading sessions ended in 2018, the judgment was delayed to 2020 because of the thousands of pages of documents under review and coronavirus-related restrictions.

STL spokesperson Wajed Ramadan told Arab News from the Hague: “The tribunal requested the names of those affected from their legal representatives, in compliance with coronavirus-prevention measures adopted by the Netherlands and the STL.”

The session is expected to be broadcast live on all Lebanese television stations as well as Arab and foreign outlets. The proceedings will also be updated through the court’s website in Arabic, English and French, and through its YouTube channel in Arabic.

“Thirty journalists from the Lebanese, Arab and foreign media have been granted accreditation to cover the session,” Ramadan said.

Former prime minister Saad Hariri, son of Rafic Hariri, was scheduled to attend.




A heart-shaped red roses bouquet adorns the grave of former Lebenese prime minister Rafiq Hariri (portrait), on the ninth anniversary of his death, in Beirut on February 14, 2014. (AFP/File Photo)

“Hope in international justice was never lost and the truth shall be revealed. Aug. 7 will be retribution day for the assassins,” Saad Hariri said in a statement to supporters of his Future Movement party, before the Beirut blast prompted the verdict’s postponement.

Ayyash, Merhi, Onaisi and Sabra are accused of taking part in a conspiracy with the aim of committing a terrorist act. Ayyash is also charged with committing a terrorist act by using an explosive device, intentionally killing Rafic Hariri with explosives, deliberately killing 21 others using explosives and attempting to intentionally kill another 226 people with explosives.

Merhi, Onaisi, and Sabra are accused of being accomplices in each of the four crimes of which Ayyash is accused.

The prosecution relied on phone logs to prove the defendants monitored Rafic Hariri and his movements, that they were present at the scene of the assassination and that they forged Ahmed Abu Adass’ false declaration about committing the crime via recorded tape.

The prosecution presented the investigation findings and the political background and motives, including a much-publicized threat by Syrian President Bashar Assad to kill Hariri if he did not agree to extend the mandate of the Lebanese president at the time, Emile Lahoud.

The attack took place five months after the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1559 in September 2004, calling for the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah.

The prosecution’s final memorandum quoted Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as saying in a public speech that the four defendants were “brothers in the resistance,” claiming it proved their affiliation to Hezbollah.

It also cited heightened surveillance by Ayyash during Rafic Hariri’s meeting with Nasrallah in 2004 in Haret Hreik, although the meeting had been kept confidential.

The prosecution also stated that Syrian military and intelligence officer Rustum Ghazaleh had increased contact with Hezbollah official Wafik Safa and went on visits to Haret Hreik as the Syrian conflict with Hariri intensified.

The full ruling is expected to be between 500 to 1,000 pages, Ramadan said. Judges of the First Instance Court, headed by David Re, will read a summary of the charges against each defendant and the respective verdicts.

“The Registrar of the Chamber, Daryl Mundis, will hand over a certified copy of the verdict to the Lebanese authorities,” Ramadan told Arab News.

“This is a trial in absentia and the Lebanese authorities will be required to notify the accused according to the applicable Lebanese laws, whether it is a verdict of their innocence or their conviction, in preparation for the arrest of those convicted by the Lebanese authorities.”

The defense will have 30 days to appeal.




A Lebanese man walks past a billboard that shows a picture of assassinated Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri in downtown Beirut, on February 14, 2011, as Lebanon commemorates on Valentine's Day, the sixth anniversary of his death in a car bombing in Beirut. (AFP/File Photo)

The judges heard testimony from 307 witnesses, 269 of whom were from the prosecution.

A total of 119 witnesses either testified before the STL or from Beirut through a televised conference system. The legal representatives of those affected provided evidence from 31 witnesses.

Hezbollah has refused to recognize the STL from the outset. Nasrallah accused it of being “politicized and serving the interests of Israel and the United States.”

He has also refused to extradite the accused, whom he described as “saints,” warning against “playing with fire with its rulings to ignite an inner conflict.”

Before he stepped down as prime minister amid outrage over the Beirut blast, Hassan Diab had pledged to abide by the decisions of the STL and to pay the financial dues it owes. He had urged people to avoid “fishing in troubled waters” and said the authorities “must be ready to deal with the fallout” of the judgment.

The involvement of Iran-backed groups in assassinations and kidnappings in Lebanon has never been a secret. Before the official inception of Hezbollah in 1985, groups such as the Lebanese Islamic Jihad, the Wheat of the Earth Organization, the Organization for the Defense of Free People and the Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for terrorism that was aimed at cementing the authority of the Syrian regime and its Lebanese allies.

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TWITTER POLL: Majority believes Hezbollah will be convicted of 2005 Hariri assassination

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Bombings in 1983 against US and French troops and the US embassy marked the beginning of a 37-year wave of terrorism in Lebanon. Between 1982 and 1992, 104 foreigners were taken hostage in Lebanon, mostly Americans and Europeans.

William Francis Buckley, the former head of the CIA’s Beirut office, was kidnapped by the Islamic Jihad in March 1984 and declared dead in October 1985. His remains were found in a plastic bag on the side of a Beirut road in 1991.

American Peter Kilburn and Britons Leigh Douglas and Philip Padfield, employees of the American University of Beirut, were kidnapped in April 1986 and their bodies discovered days later near the city. An organization calling itself the Revolutionary Organization of Socialist Muslims claimed it executed the three men in retaliation for American air strikes on Libya that month.

Michel Seurat, a French sociologist, was kidnapped in February 1986 and later declared executed by the Islamic Jihad. His body was found in October 2005.

While the perpetrators of many of these violent terrorist acts remained mostly unidentified, suspicion inevitably fell on Hezbollah.

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Twitter: @najiahoussari


Israel says intercepted missile launched from Yemen

Updated 3 sec ago
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Israel says intercepted missile launched from Yemen

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said Saturday it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen, from where the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have launched multiple missile and drone attacks targeting Israel.
“Following the sirens that sounded recently in several areas in Israel, a missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted” before “crossing into Israeli territory,“a military statement said.
The Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, have repeatedly fired missiles and drones at Israel since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023, in what they say is a show of solidarity with the Palestinians.
The rebels have also targeted ships they accuse of having ties to Israel as the freighters travel on the Red Sea — a vital waterway for global trade.
They paused their attacks during a recent two-month ceasefire in Gaza.
According to Israel’s army radio, the missile intercepted overnight was the 22nd fired by the Houthis since they had resumed their attacks as Israel renewed its Gaza offensive on March 18.
Since March 15, Israel’s key ally the United States has stepped up its attacks on the Houthis, targeting rebel positions in Yemen with near-daily air strikes.

Gaza rescuers say 4 dead, 30 missing under rubble after Israeli strike

Israel's military said Thursday that the initial findings from an investigation into the death of a UN worker in the central Gaz
Updated 8 min 3 sec ago
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Gaza rescuers say 4 dead, 30 missing under rubble after Israeli strike

GAZA: Gaza’s civil defense agency said an Israeli strike on Gaza City on Saturday killed four people and left “more than 30” feared buried under the rubble of a house.
“Our crews were able to recover four martyrs and five wounded following the attack,” said civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal, adding that “more than 30” people are presumed missing under the rubble and “our crews cannot reach them because of the lack of the necessary machinery.”


Missile launched from Yemen into Israel intercepted, Israeli army says

Updated 26 April 2025
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Missile launched from Yemen into Israel intercepted, Israeli army says

CAIRO: The Israeli army said in the early hours of Saturday that a missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory.
Sirens sounded in a number of areas in Israel following the launch, the Israeli army added in a statement.
There was no immediate comment from Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis, who have been launching attacks against Israel as well as ships they perceive as affiliated to Israel, in what they say is to support the Palestinians in Gaza against the Israeli offensive on the enclave.


Former Lebanese PM Diab questioned over Beirut port blast

Updated 25 April 2025
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Former Lebanese PM Diab questioned over Beirut port blast

  • Investigation gains momentum as French official files transferred to Judge Tarek Bitar
  • Lebanese President Aoun reiterates importance of judiciary in securing broader reform

BEIRUT: Former Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab appeared before Judge Tarek Bitar on Friday for questioning related to the devastating Beirut port explosion of Aug. 4, 2020. 

Diab was interrogated for two and a half hours before being remanded for further questions. The session came a week after Bitar questioned former Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk.

In recent weeks, former General Security Chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim and former Head of State Security Maj. Gen. Tony Saliba also appeared before the judge.

The explosion devastated the capital’s waterfront, resulted in thousands of casualties, and has been compared in scale to a nuclear bomb.

It prompted widespread outrage both at home and abroad due to the long-term neglect in safely storing large quantities of ammonium nitrate at the port.

Diab, who was prime minister at the time of the explosion, had previously failed to attend hearings into the disaster for various reasons, notably claiming that “the investigative judge lacked jurisdiction to question” him, or stating that he was abroad.

For more than 18 months, several individuals contested their summons, arguing that Bitar was not the appropriate authority to investigate them.

They also initiated lawsuits against Bitar, whose work was suspended for a significant period due to political pressures and legal challenges.

During their unexpected appearances before the investigative judge, these individuals all expressed their intention to cooperate.

In Lebanon, political and judicial powers are intertwined, contrary to the constitution’s separation of powers principle.

The judiciary is mostly subject to political pressure, starting with judicial appointments, as with other institutions and administrations, which hinders reform efforts and the full independence of the judiciary.

A ministerial source told Arab News that President Joseph Aoun had always stressed two key pillars essential for the state’s recovery are security and the judiciary.

“The security appointments have been finalized, and measures are in place to restore security.

“The minister of justice and the High Judicial Council are actively working on judicial appointments to restore processes free from political interference and corruption.

“These procedures have started to affect the justice system, and everyone has begun to understand that the authority of the judiciary is not negotiable; the previously accepted method is no longer valid.”

The source emphasized that gaining political support for the judiciary is essential to shield it from interference.

This should be prioritized, particularly in light of the president’s commitment to maintaining judicial independence.

Additionally, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is dedicated to implementing the ministerial statement that received unanimous support through the vote of confidence in his government, said the source.

Political authorities are still debating the law on judicial independence, but it remains unapproved and is currently stalled in joint parliamentary committees.

Aoun has previously stressed his belief in the judiciary as a cornerstone of reform.

In a recent meeting with the Bar Association, he noted that the challenge is not the coubtry’s laws themselves, but their implementation and accountability for violations.

“Too often, laws are interpreted for personal gain and interests. By working together, individuals committed to justice and accountability can address imbalances, fight corruption, and promote responsibility,” he said.

“Only the judiciary has the authority to deter offenders and corruption,” the president added.

Currently, the High Judicial Council is investigating bribery cases involving several judges and has issued a preliminary arrest warrant for one of them, who was arrested and transferred to the prison run by the General Directorate of Internal Security Forces.

The council recently set up three bodies to investigate cases against judges.

Lawyer Ghida Frangieh — who represents victims of the Beirut port explosion — told Arab News that the “renewed cooperation between the Public Prosecution and investigative Judge Bitar is a crucial development.

“It will help revive the port explosion case and allow the investigation to continue until an indictment is issued and, ultimately, a trial takes place,” Frangieh said.

“The election of the republic’s president, setting up a functional government instead of a caretaker government, and the political will for reform would collectively help reactivate Lebanon’s judicial system.

“This should have been the scenario in the port investigations three years ago, and all pending judicial cases should now be addressed and resolved in due order,” Frangieh added.

A French delegation is set to arrive in Beirut next Monday, following the transfer of judicial summons from the Public Prosecution at the Court of Cassation in Lebanon to France.

Bitar has requested access to French investigations regarding the port explosion, and the French judiciary has expressed willingness to support the judge by providing all necessary files and documents for his investigation.

Several French nationals were among those killed and injured in the Beirut port explosion.


US says blast near UNESCO world heritage site caused by Houthi missile

A picture shows a view of UNESCO-listed buildings in the old city of the Yemeni capital Sanaa on July 12, 2023. (AFP file photo)
Updated 26 April 2025
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US says blast near UNESCO world heritage site caused by Houthi missile

  • A Houthi official was quoted by the New York Times as saying the American denial was an attempt to smear the Houthis

WASHINGTON: The US military said a blast on Sunday near a UNESCO world heritage site in Yemen’s capital city of Sanaa was caused by a Houthi missile and not an American airstrike.
The Houthi-run Health Ministry said a dozen people were killed in the US strike in a neighborhood of Sanaa. The Old City of Sanaa is a recognized UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The US ordered the intensification of strikes on Yemen last month, with officials saying they will continue assaulting Houthis until they stop attacking Red Sea shipping.
A US Central Command spokesperson said the damage and casualties described by Houthi officials “likely did occur,” but a US attack did not cause them.
The spokesperson said the closest US strike was more than 5 km away that night.
The US military assessed that the damage was caused by a “Houthi air defense missile” based on a review of “local reporting, including videos documenting Arabic writing on the missile’s fragments at the market,” the spokesperson said, adding the Houthis subsequently arrested Yemenis.
A Houthi official was quoted by the New York Times as saying the American denial was an attempt to smear the Houthis.
Recent US strikes have killed dozens, including 74 at an oil terminal on Thursday in what was the deadliest strike in Yemen under Trump so far, according to the local Health Ministry.
The US military says the strikes aim to cut off the Houthi militant group’s military and economic capabilities.
Rights advocates have raised concerns about civilian killings, and three Democratic senators, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen, wrote to Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on Thursday, demanding an accounting for the loss of civilian lives.
The Houthis have taken control of swaths of Yemen over the past decade.
Since November 2023, they have launched drone and missile attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, saying they were targeting ships linked to Israel.