DUBAI - Lebanese Christian leader Michel Aoun on Saturday launched a scathing attack on Syria's exiled former vice-president, accusing him of bearing responsibility for a string of assassinations.

He called on Abdel Halim Khaddam, an ex-regime stalwart turned whistleblower who last month implicated Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the murder of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri, to publicly explain the killings.

"Khaddam was for a long time responsible for the Lebanese file, and during the time that he was responsible there were many very unfortunate events which were similar to Hariri's assassination," Aoun told Dubai television.

Long the architect of Syria's military and political domination of neighbouring Lebanon, Khaddam was entrusted with the Lebanese file during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

"There were the (assassinations) of two presidents of the republic, Bashir Gemayel and Rene Moawad, and there was the (Sunni) mufti Sheikh Hassan Khaled, MP Nazem Al-Qadri... and Kamal Jumblatt," said Aoun.

Aoun, who returned to Lebanon in May after 15 years in exile in France, added: "We had hoped that he would recall those days and let us know how these events took place."

Khaddam's accusations that Assad personally threatened Hariri, made from his exile in France, have dealt a fresh blow to the increasingly pressured Syrian regime. The former vice president has been interviewed by the UN commission of inquiry into the Hariri murder.

Damascus has said it intends to try Khaddam for high treason, investigate him for corruption and seize his assets following his allegations against the regime.

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