Lebanese general seeks access to case file

A UN tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was holding a public hearing to discuss a former Lebanese security chief`s demand.

Leidschendam: A UN tribunal
investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri was holding a public hearing today to
discuss a former Lebanese security chief`s demand to see the
evidence that led to him being jailed as a suspect for nearly
four years.

The hearing at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon plays
out against a backdrop of political turmoil in Beirut after
Shiite militant group Hezbollah brought down the government of
Hariri`s pro-Western son, Saad.

Maj Gen Jamil al-Sayyed, Lebanon`s former chief of
general security, and three other pro-Syrian officers were
freed from a Lebanese jail in April 2009 for lack of evidence.

He claims false witnesses framed him and wants access
to their evidence so he can sue them in local courts.

Hezbollah denounces the tribunal as a US-Israeli
conspiracy. The court is widely expected to indict members of
the Iranian-and Syrian-backed group soon for involvement in
the massive truck bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others in
Beirut.

Prosecutors are expected to send indictments to a
pretrial judge next week. Their contents will not be made
public until the judge confirms them, a process expected to
take weeks.

Hezbollah had demanded Hariri reject the tribunal`s
findings even before they came out, but Hariri has refused to
break cooperation with the court and its investigations into
his father`s murder.

PTI

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