LONDON — The assassins of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri were dispatched
from Iraq where they were recruited and trained, investigators said.
Rachid Mezher, the Lebanese investigating judge of the Hariri killing, said the
suicide bomber was a Palestinian trained in Iraq and recruited by Ansar Al
Islam.
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Lebanese students join a protest from the site of the assassination of Lebanon's slain former premier Rafiq Hariri to the parliament building in central Beirut. Tens of thousands of people massed on the Lebanese capital's seafront chanting "Syria out".AFP/Ramzi Haidar
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Ansar has been linked to Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi, and the suspected
bomber was identified as Ahmed Abu Adas, Middle East Newsline reported.
Lebanese sources said the bombing contained explosives similar to
Zarqawi suicide strikes in Iraq in 2004.
They said an examination of the
explosives was conducted by French experts.
Lebanese Justice Minister Adnan Addoum said 14 Islamic suspects in the
bombing have fled for Australia. Addoum said traces of TNT were found on the
seats of the airplane taken by the Australian nationals after the attack on
Hariri, in which 14 other people were killed.
Lebanese sources said Sunni groups in Iraq linked to Syria recruited the assassins, and have provided fighters and financing for the
insurgency against the U.S.-led coalition.
The sources said the assassins were
trained in Iraq and entered Syria and later Lebanon with equipment required
for the suicide bombing in Beirut on Feb. 14.
"We know that Adas had Saudi Arabian nationality and used his passport
to travel to Iraq and Syria," Mezher said. "The man converted to strict
Muslim beliefs two years ago and returned to Lebanon only recently."
"They left for Australia from Beirut airport a few hours after the
attack," Addoum said. "Traces of TNT powder were found on the seats some of
them had occupied."
[On Monday, Lebanese nationals launched protests around Beirut against
the Syrian military occupation. No incidents were reported.]
Lebanese opposition leader Walid Jumblatt as well as Canberra dismissed
Addoum's claim. Jumblatt has blamed Syria, particularly Brig. Gen. Rustom
Ghazaleh, chief of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon, for Hariri's death.
Independent experts and opposition sources also disputed the claim by
the Lebanese government that a suicide bomber blew up Hariri's convoy. The
experts said the bomb appeared to have been placed underneath the road and
detonated by remote control.
"If the explosion was above the ground, the [manhole] cover wouldn't fly
off," the opposition Free Patriotic Movement said.
