No evidence Hezbollah leadership involved
A UN-backed tribunal yesterday said there was no evidence the leadership of Hezbollah or the Syrian government were involved in the 2005 killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
Four members of the Iran-backed Shi'ite movement Hezbollah are charged with conspiracy to carry out the massive bomb attack that killed Hariri and 21 other people.
Hariri, a Sunni Muslim billionaire, had close ties with the United States, Western and Sunni Gulf Arab allies, and was seen as a threat to Iranian and Syrian influence in Lebanon. He led efforts to rebuild Beirut following the 1975-1990 civil war.
"The trial chamber is of the view that Syria and Hezbollah may have had motives to eliminate Mr Hariri and his political allies, however, there is no evidence that the Hezbollah leadership had any involvement in Mr. Hariri's murder and there is no direct evidence of Syrian involvement," said Judge David Re, reading a summary of the court's decision.
Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the Feb. 14, 2005 bombing.
The reading of the verdict by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which began yesterday was expected to take several hours, comes as Lebanese are still reeling from the aftermath of a huge explosion that killed 178 people this month and from an economic meltdown that has shattered their lives.
Hariri's assassination plunged Lebanon into what was then its worst crisis since the war, setting the stage for years of confrontation between rival political forces.
Even before judges began reading their 2,600 page verdict into the Hariri's killing, Lebanon's an-Nahar daily ran a headline: 'International Justice Defeats Intimidation'.
The paper published a caricature of Hariri's face looking at a mushroom cloud over the devastated city, with a caption: "May you also (get justice)", referring to an investigation that could unveil the cause of the blast.
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