Lebanonwire.com | UN teams to verify Syrian pullout, probe Hariri killing

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April 28, 2005

UN teams to verify Syrian pullout, probe Hariri killing
by Nayla Razzouk

BEIRUT - Lebanon began Thursday preparing for elections as UN teams were due to verify Syria's pullout and probe the killing of former billionaire premier Rafiq Hariri which plunged the country into crisis.

Bolstered by the end of Syria's 29-year military presence, the new government of Prime Minister Nagib Miqati won a strong vote of confidence in parliament Wednesday and announced that much-watched elections would be held
from May 29.

Holding the polls on time was a key demand of the Lebanese opposition and the international community which had piled the pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime to withdraw the troops and end its grip on its smaller neighbour.

Lebanon's parliament is due to examine the electoral law to set the size of constituencies for the polls while government was expected to discuss the fate of security chiefs blamed by many for Hariri's killing.

The cabinet was due to meet Thursday for a session that media reports said would focus on opposition demands for the replacement of five security chiefs as well as public prosecutor Adnan Addum.

Lebanon's head of general security General Jamil Sayyed and internal security forces chief General Ali Hajj stepped aside earlier this week.

Many people hope the end of Syria's military presence signals a new era for Lebanon which still bears the scars of its devastating 1975-1990 civil war, but doubts linger over whether Damascus has truly relinquished control.

Washington, which last year imposed sanctions on Syria and led the international campaign for the withdrawal, warned that Syria may have left "intelligence assets" behind.

A UN team was due in Beirut from Damascus on Thursday to verify the pullout and report back to Secretary General Kofi Annan in about a week.

"The commission is due to arrive on Thursday in Beirut to meet with the concerned Lebanese officials, starting at the foreign ministry. They will also go on verification missions on the ground," a diplomatic source said.

The team is made up of deputy military advisor for UN peacekeeping operations Brigadier General Elhadji Mouhamadou Kandji of Senegal, chief of staff of the UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus, Colonel Ian Sinclair of Britain, and UN peacekeeping operations Commander Kari Olavi Makinen of Finland.

In a report to the Security Council on Tuesday, Annan said he had received assurances from Lebanon and Syria that intelligence agents had not stayed behind, but said he could not actually verify the pullout until the technical team reports back.

A second UN team arrived overnight to prepare the ground for a commission of inquiry to probe the killing of Hariri which unleashed anti-Syria protests that led to the downfall of the government and paved the way for the Syrian pullout.

The February 14 assassination of Hariri, a five-time prime minister who had become increasingly critical of Syria, has been blamed by many on the Lebanese regime and its political masters in Damascus, both of whom strongly denied the charges.

The UN team met with foreign minister interim secretary general Butros Assaker and named three Lebanese officials to work with the experts who are expected to stay until early next week.

"The team is due to prepare the ground for the inquiry commission, and is due to meet with officials at the concerned ministries over logistics, communication and security matters," said a diplomatic source.

While stopping short of directly pointing the finger at Syria, the United Nations said Damascus was to blame for tensions in Lebanon that preceded the attack, that also killed another 19 people.

Johnny Abdo, the former head of military intelligence and a prominent figure close to the Hariri family, said in a television interview Wednesday that Lebanese and Syrian security services were behind the assassination.

Abdo said Lebanese presidential guards chief General Mustapha Hamdan had been monitoring Hariri's movements before his death and had himself given orders to remove the former premier's cars from the scene immediately after the deadly explosion.