SYRIA IMPLICATED in death of Hariri:
A United Nations report that accuses Syrian and Lebanese officials of orchestrating an intricate plot to kill former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is expected to bring a swift call for action from the UN Security Council. Reuters reports that both Syria and Lebanese President Emile Lahood are trying to distance themselves from the UN investigation.
Read the whole thing, and here’s the report.
UPDATE: Publius has much more:
The Mehlis report was released today, and it was the historic bombshell that everyone knew it would be. It implicated Syrian and Lebanese intelligence chiefs and military generals, all the way up to members of Assad’s family. The commission was also extended up until December in order to allow for further investigations into more recent developments and leads. And, speaking of those leads, Mehlis deleted the names of some of those suspected of conspiring in Hariri’s murder for reasons not yet known.
The unredacted report is here. Publius observes:
It makes for incredible reading. In fact, it reads like a spy/conspiracy novel, because that’s exactly what it is. A real life, high level conspiracy.
Exposed.
MORE: Read this, too:
The last-minute alterations made to the Detlev Mehlis report on the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri may have been made under pressure by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Israel Radio reported Friday afternoon.
A diplomatic source reported that Annan had an interest in removing the name of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s brother and brother-in-law, along with other important Syrian officials, from the list of suspects in the Hariri killing.
Assad’s brother and brother-in-law had previously been implicated in having involvement in the Hariri assassination.
Annan, according to speculations, was concerned that the harsh report could cause political instability in Syria, perhaps even leading to an overthrow of the Assad regime, and thus preferred a watered-down version of the report.
Oh, yeah, we wouldn’t want that. Are there any tyrants Annan won’t cover for?