Post by maxell on Oct 31, 2007 8:33:20 GMT -5
Hariri Discloses Syrian Assassination Plot Targeting Him, Saniora
Lebanese parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri disclosed Tuesday that he had evidence of Syrian assassination plots against himself and Prime Minister Fouad Saniora.
Hariri made the revelation in response to a question about information circulating in Cairo regarding assassination plots against him by Syrian President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law and head of intelligence Assef Shawkat.
"We have intelligence about this and we are following it up," he told reporters.
"The intelligence is correct and our security services are working on it.
"There is cooperation between Lebanese security services and Arab security services to avoid such assassinations," he said, without specifying which countries were helping in intercepting the scheme.
Several anti-Syrian figures have been assassinated in Lebanon since Hariri's own father and former premier Rafik was killed by a powerful bomb blast targeting his motorcade in 2005.
An initial UN inquiry into that killing implicated Damascus and its allies in Lebanon, where four pro-Syrian security commanders were arrested in late 2005. Syria denies involvement.
Saad Hariri has been at the vanguard of Lebanese efforts to set up a U.N.-backed tribunal to judge those responsible for his father's death, saying earlier this month that "what is happening in Lebanon today is a destabilizing coup."
Political tension is running high as rival pro and anti-Syrian factions in Lebanon have failed to agree on a consensus candidate to succeed President Emile Lahoud, a Damascus ally whose extended term in office ends next month.
In the latest wave of political assassination, six people were killed last month in a Beirut car bombing, including anti-Syrian MP Antoine Ghanem, just days before parliament was due to meet to choose a new president.
MPs are now set to meet on November 12 in a last-ditch bid to elect a head of state, and avoid further political turmoil amid fears that the impasse over the presidency could lead to two rival governments.
Hariri said his talks with Egyptian President Husni Mubarak in Cairo focused on the vote and "the interference of certain states to prevent the holding of these elections."
He said Mubarak promised to help prevent "any interference in the Lebanese presidential election or anything that might prejudice the stability of Lebanon."
He noted that the most recent political assassination came a few days after parliament speaker Nabih Berri appealed for dialogue.
"We feel that this is a way of undermining Lebanese dialogue and the Lebanese consensus," he said.
Hariri earlier this month appealed for increased international pressure to set up a court to try suspects in the assassination of his father and related crimes.
"We asked for a harder position from the United Nations in the face of those assassinations," Hariri told UN chief Ban Ki-moon in New York on October 9.
Hariri's statement came a few hours after Lebanon's leading daily an-Nahar said Syria has threatened with a war of trenches in Lebanon if a president was not elected along with its terms.
The newspaper, citing sources in Paris, said the stand was conveyed by Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa to France's Middle East envoy Jean-Claude Cousseran during a meeting in Damascus on Monday.
An Nahar said Sharaa's stance was "inflexible" in view of some Lebanese parties that are demanding a simple majority vote. It said Sharaa indicated that this would not only lead to a presidential vacuum but to domestic disputes.
"The (presidential election) issue should be resolved before it turns into bunker wars," parliamentary sources quoted France's Middle East envoy Jean-Claude Cousseran as summing up the Syrian stance.
The sources pointed out that Sharaa's stand came in contrast to announcements by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.
Paris, nevertheless, remained "optimistic" that presidential election would take place within the constitutional framework, underlining U.S.' "positive reaction" with regard to France's position that calls for Lebanese national dialogue aimed at reaching a compromise President.
An-Nahar said a scheduled meeting between French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Muallem in Istanbul this week, followed by a summit between U.S. President George Bush and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy next week, "could be a last chance for an international agreement on the election issue."
The daily, citing diplomatic sources in Paris, said France has warned Gen. Michel Aoun that his recent exaggerated stances "serve Syria's interests rather than the interests of Lebanon or the Lebanese."
The newspaper As-Safir, in turn, said French diplomatic sources are skeptical about holding the presidential election on Nov. 12 as set by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
Lebanese parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri disclosed Tuesday that he had evidence of Syrian assassination plots against himself and Prime Minister Fouad Saniora.
Hariri made the revelation in response to a question about information circulating in Cairo regarding assassination plots against him by Syrian President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law and head of intelligence Assef Shawkat.
"We have intelligence about this and we are following it up," he told reporters.
"The intelligence is correct and our security services are working on it.
"There is cooperation between Lebanese security services and Arab security services to avoid such assassinations," he said, without specifying which countries were helping in intercepting the scheme.
Several anti-Syrian figures have been assassinated in Lebanon since Hariri's own father and former premier Rafik was killed by a powerful bomb blast targeting his motorcade in 2005.
An initial UN inquiry into that killing implicated Damascus and its allies in Lebanon, where four pro-Syrian security commanders were arrested in late 2005. Syria denies involvement.
Saad Hariri has been at the vanguard of Lebanese efforts to set up a U.N.-backed tribunal to judge those responsible for his father's death, saying earlier this month that "what is happening in Lebanon today is a destabilizing coup."
Political tension is running high as rival pro and anti-Syrian factions in Lebanon have failed to agree on a consensus candidate to succeed President Emile Lahoud, a Damascus ally whose extended term in office ends next month.
In the latest wave of political assassination, six people were killed last month in a Beirut car bombing, including anti-Syrian MP Antoine Ghanem, just days before parliament was due to meet to choose a new president.
MPs are now set to meet on November 12 in a last-ditch bid to elect a head of state, and avoid further political turmoil amid fears that the impasse over the presidency could lead to two rival governments.
Hariri said his talks with Egyptian President Husni Mubarak in Cairo focused on the vote and "the interference of certain states to prevent the holding of these elections."
He said Mubarak promised to help prevent "any interference in the Lebanese presidential election or anything that might prejudice the stability of Lebanon."
He noted that the most recent political assassination came a few days after parliament speaker Nabih Berri appealed for dialogue.
"We feel that this is a way of undermining Lebanese dialogue and the Lebanese consensus," he said.
Hariri earlier this month appealed for increased international pressure to set up a court to try suspects in the assassination of his father and related crimes.
"We asked for a harder position from the United Nations in the face of those assassinations," Hariri told UN chief Ban Ki-moon in New York on October 9.
Hariri's statement came a few hours after Lebanon's leading daily an-Nahar said Syria has threatened with a war of trenches in Lebanon if a president was not elected along with its terms.
The newspaper, citing sources in Paris, said the stand was conveyed by Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa to France's Middle East envoy Jean-Claude Cousseran during a meeting in Damascus on Monday.
An Nahar said Sharaa's stance was "inflexible" in view of some Lebanese parties that are demanding a simple majority vote. It said Sharaa indicated that this would not only lead to a presidential vacuum but to domestic disputes.
"The (presidential election) issue should be resolved before it turns into bunker wars," parliamentary sources quoted France's Middle East envoy Jean-Claude Cousseran as summing up the Syrian stance.
The sources pointed out that Sharaa's stand came in contrast to announcements by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.
Paris, nevertheless, remained "optimistic" that presidential election would take place within the constitutional framework, underlining U.S.' "positive reaction" with regard to France's position that calls for Lebanese national dialogue aimed at reaching a compromise President.
An-Nahar said a scheduled meeting between French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Muallem in Istanbul this week, followed by a summit between U.S. President George Bush and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy next week, "could be a last chance for an international agreement on the election issue."
The daily, citing diplomatic sources in Paris, said France has warned Gen. Michel Aoun that his recent exaggerated stances "serve Syria's interests rather than the interests of Lebanon or the Lebanese."
The newspaper As-Safir, in turn, said French diplomatic sources are skeptical about holding the presidential election on Nov. 12 as set by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
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