Today (January 16, 2014), nearly nine years after the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Al-Hariri, the trial of four men accused of the assassination began at The Hague. The four, who are being tried in absentia, are senior Hizbullah members Salim 'Ayyash, Mustafa Badr A-Din, Hussein 'Oneissi and Assad Sabra. The case of a fifth suspect, Hassan Mer'i, may be joined to this trial at a later date. A delegation of senior officials from the March 14 Forces arrived at The Hague yesterday to attend the trial's opening. At its head is Rafiq Al-Hariri's son, Sa'd, and it also includes family members of other victims who died in the attack on Al- Hariri.[1]
Rafiq Al-Hariri was killed on February 14, 2005 along with several of his bodyguards and a number of passersby when a car bomb exploded near his motorcade as it was passing through central Beirut. This was the first of a series of assassinations against Lebanese figures associated with the March 14 Forces, which is still ongoing; the latest victim was former minister Mohammed Shatah, killed only two weeks ago, on December 27, 2013.
Immediately following Al-Hariri's assassination, many in Lebanon, in the Arab world and in the international community pointed the finger at the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose forces were present in Lebanon at the time, and at its allies within Lebanon, chiefly Hizbullah. Lebanese opposition parties – which later united to form the March 14 Forces – held a demonstration of unprecedented proportions, attended by some 1,000,000 people, calling to expel the Syrian military presence from the country. In April 2005, Lebanese and international pressures indeed forced Syria to withdraw its forces from Lebanon. This chain of events later became known as the Cedar Revolution.[2]
The Lebanese government resolved that the investigation of the Al-Hariri assassination would be conducted in cooperation with the U.N., and in May 2007 the Security Council, acting under U.N. Charter Chapter VII, adopted Resolution 1757 establishing the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) to try those suspected of the assassination, as well as suspects in several other assassinations of March 14 Forces figures.
Hizbullah, for its part, acted to thwart the establishment of the tribunal and condemned Resolution 1757 when it was passed. Since then, in addition to denying media reports about the involvement of its members in the assassination, the organization, headed by its secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, has been waging an intense campaign against the STL, accusing it of political bias and lack of credibility.[3] Nasrallah even declared in July 2011 that Hizbullah would not surrender any of its members to the STL,[4] and Hizbullah MP Nawwaf Al-Moussawi said that any Hizbullah activist indicted by the tribunal would become a saint in the organization's eyes.[5]
Sa'd Al-Hariri in The Hague with family members of other victims of the bombing (twitter.com/HaririSaad, January 15, 2014)
"Hariri to the families: the start of the trials is a historic day opening a new era of justice in Lebanon's history" (twitter.com/HaririSaad, January 15, 2014)
The March 8 Forces, headed by Hizbullah, conspicuously ignored the impending start of the trial. Throughout the past week, the Lebanese media associated with this camp sufficed with laconic reports on this matter, while repeating the claims regarding the tribunal's lack of credibility.[6] The media associated with the March 14 Forces, on the other hand, especially the Al-Mustaqbal daily, owned by the Al-Hariri family, published numerous articles on the issue. They repeated the claim that the Assad regime and Hizbullah had been behind the assassination and stated that today would be a historic day for Lebanon, on which justice would finally come to light after many years.[7]
The following are excerpts from one of these articles, by Al-Mustaqbal columnist Khayrallah Khayrallah, which was published on January 13, two days before the start of the trial.
Article In 'Al-Mustaqbal': A Historic Day Proves That Justice Must Be Done
"The path to the international tribunal [for the Al-Hariri assassination] was long. Much blood was spilled in order to reach this day – and this proves that justice must be done, both in Lebanon and in Syria, and that there will always be someone who will settle accounts with the assassin.
"History will see that justice is done in Lebanon and for the Lebanese by means of the blood of one man [Al-Hariri], who once said that 'no one is greater than his State.' It turned out that this is true. But it also turned out that Rafiq Al-Hariri was just as great as the State, and that the aim of assassinating him was to assassinate [all of] Lebanon, no more and no less.
"We are seeing a turning point in the history of this small homeland of ours and in the history of Syria. For the first time since its independence, a trial is being held for an assassin and for those behind him. In all the great political crimes committed in Lebanon, the side that chose the assassin and set out his mission for him has been concealed...
"The tribunal has named the first five accused. The element with which they are affiliated is known. Sooner or later, the court will name the main accused, or the two main accused, who are behind the planning and [execution] of the crime [i.e. Hizbullah and the Assad regime]. Rafiq Al-Hariri was right when he said laconically, on Saturday, February 12, 2005, two days before his assassination: 'Anyone who kills me is a madman.' The assassin was indeed a true madman, because he did not realize that this crime would not be passed over as were the 1977 assassination of Kamal Jumblatt,[8] [the 1982 assassination] of Bashir Al-Gemayel,[9] [the 1989 assassination] of Mufti Hassan Khaled,[10] [the 1989 assassination of] Rene Mo'awad,[11] and [the assassinations] of dozens of others. Back then, Lebanon had no one who would go all the way in investigating these crimes."
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Every Day, It Becomes Increasingly Clear That The Slogan Of "Resistance" Is A Cover For The Attempt To Turn Lebanon Into An Iranian Colony
"This time, the assassin's considerations were wrong. He thought that [the preoccupation] with this issue [i.e. Hariri's assassination] would last a week at most, [and then] people would forget about Rafiq Al-Hariri... [The assassins] thought that it would be a passing incident – but it turned out to be an earthquake that shook the [entire] region. Who would have believed that the Syrian army would one day leave Lebanon? Who would have believed that the Syrian regime would collapse, and that its only [option] would be total submission to Iran?
"From the assassination of Rafiq Al-Hariri to the assassination of Mohammad Shatah, Lebanon remains standing in the face of repeated attacks. It seems that the assassin [of Al-Hariri] is willing to destroy [all of] Lebanon to cover up the great crime, and [to also cover up] the series of crimes against the honorable Lebanese, who have never deluded themselves about the intentions of the Syrian regime and of all those whom [this regime] has used in destroying Lebanon and its institutions under the slogan of 'resistance' [a reference to Hizbullah and Syria's other allies in Lebanon]. Every day it becomes increasingly clear that this slogan is nothing but a cover for the war on the culture of life and for turning Lebanon into a colony of Iran, to replace the era of the Syrian presence [there]. This was the long-term goal of the assassination of Al-Hariri and his comrades, and of the crimes that followed in its wake, including flooding the state with takfiris [extremist Muslims who accuse fellow Muslims of heresy] such as Fath Al-Islam, which is a product of the Syrian regime and is operated from Tehran."
Standing Fast Against The Culture Of Death And The Destruction Of Lebanon
"The international tribunal [for Al-Hariri's assassination] represents the remaining spark of hope in the heart of every Lebanese who dreams that his country will be restored [to its citizens]. The tribunal's first session reflects the international community's will and its determination to salvage what can be salvaged from Lebanon. At the same time, it reflects the fact that there are still Lebanese prepared to sacrifice everything to reach the day when justice is served. Chief among these [Lebanese] is former prime minister Sa'd Al-Hariri, who, with his steadfastness and his adherence to the principle of justice, has proven that there are [indeed] Lebanese who belong to the true stream of resistance, [the one] without which the country has no future. This is the stream that opposes [Hizbullah's] culture of death, [and its] fomenting of sectarian instincts and exploitation of them to serve the scheme to destroy Lebanon.
"These fighters of [the true] resistance have contributed, each in his own way, to the arrival of the day on which the tribunal is convened. This is the day of all the martyrs – including Wissam Al-Hassan[12] and especially Wissam 'Eid,[13] who paid dearly for their active involvement in exposing the criminals and those behind them.
"This is the day of the true resistance – the day of Samir Kassir, George Hawi, Gebran Tueni, Walid 'Eido, Pierre Amine Al-Gemayel, Antoine Ghanem, Francois Al-Hajj, and Mohammad Shatah.[14] This is the day of the 'living martyrs' [MP] Marwan Hamade, [former minister] Elias Al-Murr, and [journalist] May Chidiac.[15] It is also the day of the Lebanese who from the start grasped the significance of how Rafiq Al-Hariri was assassinated, and understood the will of the satanic mind behind the crime. It was the[se Lebanese] who brought about Lebanon's second independence [i.e. the Syrian forces' exit] and who fight on to prevent Lebanon from collapsing. They can only triumph – particularly because the era of justice [being done] has spilled out from the borders of Lebanon and reached Syria as well.
"The day when justice reaches [the place] that is far away from Syria and the murderous Syrian regime [i.e. Iran] will not be long in coming."
Endnotes:
[1] Al-Mustaqbal (Lebanon), January 16, 2014.
[2] See MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No. 210, Reactions to Former Lebanese PM Al-Hariri's Assassination,
February 24, 2005.
[3] See MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No. 648, The Power Struggle for Control of Lebanon on the Eve of the Release of the Indictment in the Al-Hariri Assassination Case December 7, 2010; MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No. 705, Escalating Tensions in Lebanon following Indictment in Al-Hariri Assassination, July 13, 2011.
[4] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), July 3, 2011.
[5] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), July 25, 2011.
[6] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), January 9, 16, 2014.
[7] Al-Mustaqbal (Lebanon), January 10, 13, 15, 2014; Al-Nahar (Lebanon), January 16, 2014.
[8] Lebanese Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt, who founded the Progressive Socialist Party, was assassinated March 16, 1977, apparently by pro-Syrian Lebanese elements.
[9] Lebanese president and Christian leader Bashir Al-Gemayel was assassinated September 14, 1982, two weeks after taking office.
[10] Lebanon Mufti assassinated in an attack on his motorcade, apparently by the Syrians.
[11] Lebanese president and Christian leader Rene Mo'awad was, like Gemayel, assassinated shortly after taking office, following the Taif agreement to end the Lebanon civil war, in October 1989.
[12] Wissam Al-Hassan headed the information branch of the Lebanese internal security forces, and formerly headed Rafiq Al-Hariri's security team. He was assassinated in October 2012, apparently after he exposed the smuggling of explosive devices from Syria for attacks in Lebanon in which the heads of the Syrian regime and its allies in Lebanon were involved.
[13] Lebanese internal security forces member who investigated Al-Hariri's assassination and exposed Hizbullah officials' involvement by tracking the cell phones they used. He managed to deliver this information to the tribunal before being assassinated in June 2008.
[14] Politicians and journalists associated with the March 14 Forces who were assassinated between 2005 and 2013.
[15] Individuals associated with the March 14 Forces who survived assassination attempts.
