UN Special Tribunal Condems Hezbollah Member in Hariri Assassination

On August 18, judges at the United Nations-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon ruled against the main suspect in the bombing that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

In a summary of the 2,600-page judgement read out at a special court in The Hague, Judge David Re convicted Salim Jamil Ayyash in absentia of murder and committing an act of terrorism in connection with the killing of Hariri and 21 others in 2005.

Judge Micheline Braidy added: "The evidence also proved Ayyash's affiliation with Hezbollah."

But significantly the court cleared the other three defendants in the case, Hassan Merhi, Hussein Oneissi and Assad Sabra, of all charges. The charge against Mustafa Badreddine was dropped because he had died before the trial’s conclusion.

Ayyash is due to be sentenced on September 21. Judges said the killings were "carried out for political purposes," and "the assassination of a figure such as Hariri required a great deal of examination from the court, including gathering detailed information about his movements and the members of his motorcade."

Judges added that they suspect both Syria and Hezbollah had interests in Hariri's assassination, and have demonstrably benefited from it, but that there was no direct evidence to prove wider involvement and they noted that Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and Rafik Hariri had a good relationship in the months preceding the attack.

The investigation classified the phone numbers used in the crime into groups, ranging from those held by the masterminds to those of the implementers and assistant implementers. Salim Ayyash was the holder of a so-called “red phone”, they said, which directly linked him to the bombing.

“The evidence proves that Ayyash's actions were premeditated and determined to kill Hariri and those with him," the judges said. They added that "the accused, Salim Ayyash, knew the target of the plot against Hariri."

Yesterday’s judgement yesterday was only concerned with those accused of carrying out the operation, while hearings for those allegedly involved in planning the operation will be set for a later date.

Who is Salim Ayyash?

According to the Special Tribunal’s website and the indictment against him, Ayyash was born on November 10, 1963 and holds US citizenship.

An arrest warrant has been issued but Ayyash remains at large. On February 1, 2012, the First Instance Chamber resolved to prosecute Salim Jamil Ayyash and three others in absentia.

According to the indictment against Ayyash, former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated at 12.55 pm Beirut local time on February 14, 2005 in Mina Al-Hosn, Beirut. A suicide  bomber detonated a huge quantity of explosives hidden inside a vehicle, killing Hariri along with 21 other people. Another 226 other people in the area were injured.

Ayyash, it was determined, had been in constant contact with the Beirut-born Hezbollah militant leader Mustafa Badreddine, nicknamed "Zulfiqar" or "Sami Issa". Badreddine was killed in Damascus on May 13, 2016.

It was further alleged that Ayyash and Badreddine had co-ordinated and prepared the attacks that killed Ghazi Abu Krum, George Hawi, and Khaled Mora, as well as the attempted murder of Lebanese politicians Elias Al-Murr and Marwan Hamade.

The case indicates that Ayyash monitored and identified the targets, observing their homes and regularly-visited places as well as their travel directions.

Ayyash also communicated with Badreddine after the attack was carried out via a special mobile phone network dedicated to facilitating, preparing and completing the terrorist act. The networks were color-coded according to the operation assigned to them. The “yellow” and “green” cells were assigned to attack Marwan Hamade, while the blue cell was to attack George Hawi and Elias Al-Murr.

Reaction to the Judgement

In two tweets following the conclusion of yesterday’s hearing, Lebanese President Michel Aoun called on the Lebanese to "unite and protect the country from sedition."

He added, "We hope that justice will be achieved in all similar crimes that have targeted leaders who have a great place in the hearts of the Lebanese people, and whose absence from the Lebanese political scene has left a gaping void."

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the son of Rafik Hariri, said he accepted the court’s ruling and called for justice to be implemented, with the accused handed over to the judiciary.

He said that the decision was a historic moment, adding, "the time of political crime carried out with impunity in Lebanon is over." He also said that the time had come for the Iran-backed Hezbollah to take responsibility.

The Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, claimed last week that any judgements issued by the court would be "Israeli and American decisions." He also insisted that the four defendants linked to Hezbollah were innocent. But at the time of writing, neither Hezbollah nor its affiliated media have commented on yesterday’s ruling.