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Poirot has identified a 'number of persons' in Hariri murder
The chief UN investigator of the murder of Rafik Hariri said Thursday he has identified a "number of persons" who may have been involved in planning and executing the murder in 2005 of Lebanon's former prime minister Serge Brammertz said in a report to the UN Security Council that his investigators will pursue their work in coming months, and that more than 200 interviews have been planned on the Hariri murder and another 100 interviews on the killing of 17 politicians and journalists known for their anti-Syrian views.

Brammertz said his team had prepared a 2,400-page comprehensive report on the investigation, calling it a "significant step" in the efforts to find those responsible for the murder of Hariri on February 15, 2005. The attack also killed 22 people in a Beirut street.

He said a host of questions remain open, a task for the investigators to pursue in coming months. The Lebanese government has provided "close and collegial" cooperation with the investigation while Syria and other governments gave "positive responses" to investigators' requests, he said. Brammertz said he plans to hand over the findings to Lebanon's special tribunal judging the murders when it begins functioning.

Brammertz warns
Lebanon's worsening political and security situation is likely to have a negative impact on the U.N. probe, according to a U.N. report released Thursday. The Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz, expressed concern about the deteriorating environment in Lebanon over the past few months. "Although the commission -- in close cooperation with the Lebanese authorities -- has put in place mitigating measures to protect its staff and premises, the deterioration in the political and security environment is likely to have a negative effect on the Commission's activities in the coming months," it warned.
Posted by: Fred 2007-07-13
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=193296