(AKI) - A United Nations inquiry set up to probe the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri is investigating the role of a criminal network in his death. Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare says that the UN's International Independent Investigation Commission (IIIC) has evidence that a criminal network conducted surveillance of Hariri (photo) before he and 22 others were killed in a bomb attack in Beirut in February 2005.In a report to the UN security council, Bellemare said “at least part of the (so-called) Hariri network continued to exist and operate after the assassination". He said the commission will now seek evidence about the criminal network responsible for the massive car bombing and determine its participants.
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Bellemare says the IIIC is also trying to establish the links between members of the network and others outside the group, and what role the network has played in other deadly attacks against prominent figures in Lebanon in recent years. The commission is also drawing on forensic information and using DNA profiling in a bid to identify the bombers responsible.The report said that progress had been made in several other investigations, including the attacks that targeted Major General François al-Hajj, killed in a car bombing last December, and Major Wissam Eid murdered after a roadside explosion in late January this year.
“In the new cases, the commission is working on a profile of the targeted victim and possible motives for the attack,” Bellemare said.
Bellemare said the IIIC cannot rely on rumour or assumption and any investigation must be supported by reliable evidence that will be admissible before a tribunal.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UN are taking steps to set up the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to try those responsible for the death of Hariri. An agreement has been signed with the Netherlands to establish the tribunal there and a prosecutor and a registrar has been appointed.
Once formally established, the tribunal will determine whether other political killings in Lebanon since October 2004 were connected to the assassination of Hariri and could therefore be dealt with by the tribunal.