Bellemare Informed Saniora that 2nd Indictment in Hariri Case to Be Complete in Feb.
Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Daniel Bellemare held a “secret meeting” with the head of the Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Fouad Saniora during the former’s latest visit to Beirut, reported Kuwait’s An Nahar newspaper on Sunday.
High-ranking political sources told the newspaper that Bellemare was confident in the evidence he had acquired in the case of the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri, revealing that he will complete the second indictment in the case before the end of February.
He also added that the evidence in the second indictment in Hariri’s murder is more important than the first, stressing that circumstantial evidence is more vital than direct ones.
In addition, he confirmed to Saniora that he will complete the indictment in the assassination attempts against former ministers Elias Murr and Marwan Hamadeh and former Communist party chief George Hawi before he leaves his post as prosecutor in March.
The prosecutor revealed that the indictment will include a fifth suspect to be added to the list of four Hizbullah members accused of being involved in Hariri’s 2005 assassination.
He also denied allegations that Syrian individuals will be among the suspects.
Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah had slammed the indictment, which was unsealed in August, saying that it focused too much on circumstantial evidence.
Bellemare is expected to leave his post at the end of the month due to health reasons.
His successor has not been appointed yet.
Hizbullah members Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hussein Oneissi, and Assad Sabra are wanted for the February 2005 suicide car bomb attack in Beirut that killed Hariri and 22 others, including the suicide bomber.
Ayyash has been named in the indictment as coordinator of the assassination team.
The court on August 17 unsealed the indictment against the four suspects.
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