Witness in Hariri case goes missing

Witness in Hariri case goes missing

By Harvey Morris at the United Nations and Ferry Biedermann in Beirut

Published: April 10 2008 04:16 | Last updated: April 10 2008 04:16

A central witness in the assassination of Rafiq Hariri, former Lebanese prime minister, has disappeared while under house arrest in France, delivering another blow to prolonged preparations for an international trial that is expected to implicate Syria.

Three years after Mr Hariri’s motorcade was blown up in a sophisticated operation as it drove past Beirut’s seafront St George Hotel, the latest investigator appointed to solve the crime said this week he needed more time.

Daniel Bellemare, a retired Canadian prosecutor who on Tuesday delivered his first report to the United Nations Security Council, refused to comment further on the fate of Mohammed Zuheir al-Siddiq, whose disappearance was confirmed the same day in a terse statement by Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister.

The testimony of Mr Siddiq, a former Syrian intelligence officer, had implicated Damascus in the February 2005 murder, an allegation the Syrian regime has denied. The latest development has renewed speculation about the murky background to the long-awaited trial, particularly in Lebanon.

Political tension between pro- and anti-Syrian groups remains high in Beirut after the 16th attempt to hold presidential elections was abandoned last month. Middle East media have suggested the disappearance was part of a secret deal to improve relations between Paris and Damascus.

The family of Mr Siddiq, whose testimony led to the arrest of four pro-Syrian ­generals still being held in Lebanon, accused France of being involved in his disappearance and possibly even his “liquidation”.

“The French authorities helped facilitate the disappearance of Mohammed Zuheir al-Siddiq with the aim of his being liquidated by another party or they liquidated him themselves,” said Imad Siddiq, his brother, in an interview with the Syrian newspaper al-Watan.

Mr Kouchner and Mr Bellemare denied knowledge of the witness’s whereabouts after he disappeared from his Paris home a month ago. Mr Bellemare, who will both investigate and prosecute the case whenever it comes to trial before an international tribunal in the Netherlands, said Mr Siddiq had not been in a witness protection programme now in place. He refused to give many details of his inquiries since his appointment in January, saying in New York: “I need to protect the integrity of the investigation because people’s lives are at risk.”

Mr Bellemare told the Security Council he had gathered evidence that the murder as well as associated assassinations of leading Lebanese figures were the work of a “criminal network” that must be assumed to be closely watching developments.

He reassured the Lebanese his choice of the term did not imply the inquiry was no longer focused on a politically motivated terrorist attack.

Asking the Security Council to extend his mandate, which expires mid-year, he said there must be no unnecessary delay in finding the truth and bringing the perpetrators to justice.