The now infamous Syrian witness Houssam Taher Houssam has pleaded with Lebanon's highest religious figures to protect his Lebanese fiancee from "pressures inflicted upon her by Lebanese officials." | Too late. She's already on her way to Malaysia... |
Houssam, who spoke very briefly while his lawyer Omar Zouhbi, did all the talking, added that his fiancee and her family shouldn't be put through this "because they are innocent, and have nothing to do with what is happening."
In his previous news conference on Monday, Houssam had said he had given false statements to the UN probe into the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri. Houssam had earlier said he fled back to Syria from Lebanon, "in a sudden flash of conscience" after giving a false deposition against top notch Lebanese and Syrian officers, which led to the arrest of four Lebanese security chiefs. He also said he had several pieces of evidence which he didn't present during his previous conference, but that he "will not reveal anything except to the Syrian independent commission in the assassination of Hariri," and that this evidence is best kept away from the media "to preserve the secrecy of the investigations."
Reporters were not allowed to direct any questions to Houssam, who said "40 percent" of the UN probe's interim report was based on his statements, possibly to prevent Houssam from giving contradicting statements as he did on Monday. Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa called Houssam "a liar" on Wednesday, adding that Mehlis' report "relies on the depositions of a large number of people, and not only Houssam." Sabaa also said Houssam had approached with "important information on Hariri's assassination," and that Sabaa directed him to the UN probe.