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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Lebanon frees four generals held in Hariri case |
| 2009-04-30 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Four Lebanese generals detained for nearly four years in connection with the 2005 assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri were released on Wednesday following a ruling to that effect by a special U.N. court. The four were escorted separately out of Roumieh prison on the outskirts of Beirut in a convoy of vehicles after the pre-trial judge at The Hague-based Special Tribunal for Lebanon said there was insufficient evidence to charge them. Lebanese political circles eagerly awaited the decision by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) as the court has been at the center of a tug of war between the country's pro- and anti-Syrian factions. The four generals were legally transferred to the court's custody after Beirut relinquished its jurisdiction in the Hariri case earlier this month, following the launch of the STL in March. The generals included the former head of the presidential guard, Mustafa Hamdan, security services director Jamil Sayyed, domestic security chief Ali Hajj and military intelligence chief Raymond Azar. They were detained following the massive February 2005 bomb blast on the Beirut seafront that killed Hariri and 22 other people, stirring a political crisis and leading to the withdrawal of Syrian troops in Lebanon after a 29-year presence. Daniel Fransen, the pre-trial judge of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon based in The Hague, announced his decision at 1200 GMT in a broadcast transmitted live on Lebanese television and in an Internet webcast. A U.N. investigative commission had said there was evidence that Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services were linked to Hariri's killing. Damascus has consistently denied any involvement. |
| Posted by:Fred |