After a 13-years investigation, a UN-backed special tribunal has this week ruled that a member of the Hezbollah terrorist group is guilty beyond reasonable doubt of involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon said Salim Ayyash was guilty of involvement in the suicide truck bombing that killed Hariri and 21 others and injured 226 people in a huge blast outside a seaside hotel in Beirut on 14th February 2005.
However, after an investigation and trial, three other Hezbollah members — Assad Sabra; Hassan Oneissi, who changed his name to Hassan Issa; and Hassan Habib Merhi — were acquitted of all charges that they also were involved in the murder of Hariri.
The rulings came after judges at the tribunal said earlier on Tuesday that there was no evidence the leadership of Hezbollah or Syria were involved in the assassination.
Presiding Judge David Re said that in the months before his death, Hariri supported reducing the influence of Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon. He said judges who studied extensive evidence in the trial of four Hezbollah members accused of involvement in the bombing were “of the view that Syria and Hezbollah may have had motives to eliminate Mr. Hariri, and some of his political allies”.
The court did not rule on either Hezbollah or Syria, but rather just on the four named Hezbollah suspects, as the tribunal can only accuse individuals — not groups or states.
The reaction to the bombing triggered a torrent of social movements and political shake-ups in Lebanon. More than a quarter of Lebanon’s population attended demonstrations, now called the Cedar Revolution, to demand Syrian withdrawal and an independent, international investigation into Hariri’s assassination.
