UN Inquiry Exposes Hezbollah's Role in Rafik Hariri Assassination

Strategic Insights -

A United Nations investigation has long been overshadowed by controversy, with accusations of "timidity, bureaucratic inertia and incompetence bordering on gross negligence." Despite this, the inquiry has finally made significant progress, revealing damning evidence of Hezbollah's involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. The classified UN documents, obtained by the CBC, expose a trail of cellphone records linking the militant group to the notorious murder. The disclosures are set to escalate tensions in Lebanon, where the case remains a deeply divisive issue.

Key Takeaways:

  • The UN inquiry has uncovered cellphone records linking Hezbollah to the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.
  • A lone police investigator, Wissam Eid, cracked the case in early 2006, using cellphone records to pinpoint an eight-man hit team and uncover the networks behind the assassination.
  • Eid's findings were "promptly lost" by the UN probe, and it took a year and a half for the investigators to rediscover the file.
  • The UN inquiry has also revealed that the head of Lebanon's intelligence service, Col. Wissam al Hassan, has been suspected of collusion with Hezbollah despite his attempts to protect Hariri at the time of the assassination.
  • Hassan's alibi for the day of Hariri's murder has been described as "weak and inconsistent" by a confidential UN memo from 2008, recommending that he be investigated for his loyalty and intentions toward the pursuit of justice.
  • A fresh team of telecom analysts from British firm FTS has built on Eid's original discoveries, charting detailed Hezbollah ties to five color-coded cellphone networks.
  • The chief prosecutor for the UN's Special Tribunal for Lebanon is Canadian jurist Daniel Bellemare.
  • The UN probe has been accused of "foot-dragging" and was criticized earlier for suggesting that Syria was involved in Hariri's assassination.

Statistics:

  • 2005: The year in which former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated.
  • 2006: The year in which police investigator Wissam Eid cracked the case, using cellphone records to pinpoint an eight-man hit team.
  • 2008: The year in which a confidential UN memo recommended that Col. Wissam al Hassan be investigated for his loyalty and intentions toward the pursuit of justice.
  • 4,000 words: The length of a multi-month investigation led by Washington correspondent Neil Macdonald.
  • 21: The number of flaws in Hassan's alibi for the day of Hariri's murder.

Sources:

  • A 4,000-word account of the multi-month investigation led by Washington correspondent Neil Macdonald.
  • A confidential 2008 UN memo recommending that Col. Wissam al Hassan be investigated for his loyalty and intentions toward the pursuit of justice.
  • A report from the CBC investigation, which obtained classified UN documents and published them online.
  • A document from the UN probe, which lists 21 flaws in Hassan's alibi for the day of Hariri's murder.
  • A statement from Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, warning that any hand that seeks to arrest Hezbollah members "will be cut off."