Israel Contributed to Hariri Tribunal

Friday November 26, 2010 21:15 by Alessandra Bajec - IMEMC & Agencies

Israel's Foreign Minister said Israel has contributed to U.S. backed tribunal probing the murder of ex-Lebanese Premier, Rafic Hariri, sources reported on Friday.

(photo from www.google.com)

Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has acknowledged Israel aided Hariri's tribunal, Press TV reported quoting Lebanon's al-Akhbar newspaper on Friday. Lieberman added that Tel Aviv's government has been transparent and open to the investigation.

Hariri was killed, along with more than 20 other people, in a huge car bombing in Beirut on February 14, 2005. Following the incident, the U.S. sponsored Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) was established by the U.N. and the Lebanese government, in May 2007, to investigate the murder. The court is due to release its findings by the end of 2010.

In the meantime, the Israeli foreign minister accused the resistance movement of Hezbollah of attempting to jeopardize the Hariri tribunal, although Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's Secretary General, repeatedly rebuffed the allegations and warnings against Israeli plots.

In a televised speech in August, Nasrallah disclosed evidence, proving that Israel had been behind the assassination, in the form of footage taken by Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and recorded confessions by Israeli fifth columnists.

Lebanon's resistance leader also stressed that the investigators had been operating in-depth into Lebanon and delivering data outwards even before the tribunal was formally set up.

israel | international politics | news report alessandra.bajec at gmail dot com