Another Witness Testifies with Perjury into Assassination of Hariri

[allemand]

Wednesday, January 18, 2006 - 12:35 PM
Damascus (SANA)-

The witness Ibrahim Michel Jarjoura said he was forced to offer a false and fabricated testimony against Syria at the international investigation committee into the assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafik al-Hariri because he was under threats and pressures to do so.

Jarjoura told Lebanese satellite NEW TV channel in an interview overnight that some Lebanese figures, particularly Deputy and Minister Marwan Hamada, forced him, in return to some promises, to retell the fabricated story to the international probe and the Lebanese Attorney Said Mirza as well as Bahiya Hariri, sister of the slain Hariri. (...)

He added that Hamada and others told him to go to Ms. Bahiya Hariri house and tell her that he had information about who killed late Hariri without saying that he met Hamada. They ordered him to tell Bahiya that he worked for the Syrian intelligence which trained him. “They made me memorize what I’m going to say to Bahiya…and tell her that Syrian General Hassan Khallouf and General Hassan Khalil had trained me to monitor figures in Lebanon, including the procession of Rafik Hariri.”

He said he told her what was ordered to state, and thought of escaping to report to his government but failed to do so as he was under constant monitoring by the Lebanese security.

More:
http://www.sana.org/index743c205defee8ce4e232662550926c76.html

This is the third witness who recanted his testimony. One sits in a French prison, one is now in Syria and Jarjoura is still in Lebanon. All three witnesses claim that they were pressured to testify against Syria.

[acmavm]

1. Pressured to testify against Syria? Imagine that. Now who

would something like that benefit?

[Village Idiot]

2. DOes this actually surprise anyone?

It is LITERALLY insane that ANYONE takes this seriously. Hariri was a thorn in Syria's side for years and years. They had THOUSANDS of chnces to assassinate him before this. Why in the WORLD would they do it at the time when it was MOST politically disadvantageous for them to do so, and at the same time, when it was MOST politically advantageous for the USA and Israel?


The movie was WRONG. It's a fucked, fucked, fucked, fucked world.

[MrPrax]

3. well if true...

Then the UN report is pure fiction...I figure the safe bet at this point is the killing is related to bank fraud and quite possibly connected to the Iraqi embezzlement.

One of the important aspects of this case was always this:

"The driver who blew himself up to kill Hariri was an Iraqi who had been led to believe that the target was Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi because Allawi happened to be in Beirut prior to the assassination, one witness said."
Reuter Recap of UN Report

Hariri and Allawi are pals and Hariri, it was believed, was bankrolling Allawi's campaign as well as inking agreements with the 'fake' Iraqi gov't.

Here is a mundane news report outlining a joint press conference with the two. Among things discussed,

"Hariri, for his part, said talks with the Iraqi delegation dealt with the issue of restart of pumping Iraqi oil into Lebanon.

He pointed out that the issue of Iraqi deposits in Lebanon is being discussed in a way that preserves the rights of Lebanese and Iraqi people."

So how many people could honestly say that they knew that Hariri was extremely active in the 'normalization' of Iraqi-Lebanonese relations with rumours that Hariri was a silent broker for Israel in potential Iraqi-Israel talks as well.
How many people know that Hariri was anti-Syrian, but was also, very pro-American. In fact, he negotiated IMF funds for Lebanonese 'privatization' of energy and other reconstruction efforts. Apparantly not a popular move in Lebanon in and of itself.
How many know that Hariri is a major shareholder of the Arab Bank along with Jordan and Saudi gov'ts--cited as a source of 'terrorist' money--but nonetheless one of a few banks cleared to do biz in Iraq?


One of the key witnesses, Hussam, who fingered the Syrian generals, is one of the other witnesses that recanted and said he was paid 1.3 million from the Hariri family. Another key witness was a defector who was proved to be a liar through DNA matching.


While I am not a German prosecutor working for the UN, I can, no less, find substantive motive for an alternative assassination theory and I can see why the Arab newspapers generally tend to see this whole thing as a US led de-stabilization program.

I can also see why there is some disagreement about how POPULAR Hariri really was in Lebanon. I can also see why Syria might not want to 'co-operate' with an investigation that is fundamentally flawed.

[allemand]

5. The witness who "was proved to be a liar" also invented the Allawi story.

He is the one who now sits in a French prison.

First Mehlis report:
108. Mr. Saddik also gave information about the Mitsubishi itself and that the driver
eventually assigned had been an Iraqi individual who had been led to believe that the
target was Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi (who happened to be in Beirut prior to the
assassination).
http://www.un.org/news/dh/docs/mehlisreport/pdf/mehlisreport.pdf

In a letter to the Syrian embassy in Paris he recanted his testimony, claiming that he "had been kidnapped":

The statement said Syria received a letter from another Syrian witness who has been identified by the report -- Mohammad Zuhair al-Siddiq -- stating that "he had been kidnapped and forced to make his previous testimony" to implicate Syria.
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/425822/639633


Last week, several al-Qaeda suspects were detained in Lebanon and, surprisingly, there were reports about a possible link to the assassination of Hariri:

According to the reports, the continuing investigation will look into a possible connection between the suspects and a man named Khaled Tahak, whose name has been dropped in the ongoing probe into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. Tahak is also suspected of enlisting Lebanese residents into Iraq-based terror organizations.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/670167.html

Khaled Midhat Taha was a friend of Abu Adas, the suicide bomber who killed Hariri (at least he appeared in a video on al-Jazeera claiming responsibility for the killing).

Mehlis report:
174. (...) Mr. Taha met Mr. Abu Adass when they were students at the Arab University where they used to meet in the University’s mosque. (...) Moreover, the date of his final departure for Syria from Lebanon --- 16 January 2005 --- is the same as the date of Mr. Abu Adass’s disappearance, suggesting a possible link between Mr. Taha’s trip to Lebanon and Mr. Abu Adass’s disappearance.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2039893

[hang a left]

4. OK that makes 3 now.

Now what??

[Bozita]

6. "Babies were thrown to the floor from their incubators!"

ooops

Wrong set of lies.

[allemand]

7. CIA Helped in Hariri Investigation

http://lebop.blogspot.com/2006/01/cia-helped-in-hariri-investigation.html

CIA clandestine collectors reportedly were instrumental in aiding the United Nations' inquiry into the Feb. 14, 2005, assassination in Beirut of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.
http://www.govexec.com/features/0106-01/0106-01securityS2.htm

I'm sure they were only looking for the truth. :eyes:

[HuffleClaw]

8. sounds like a pretty sloppy operation all around

have the bushistas whined about it lately?