Former Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam accused Syrian President Bashar Assad of seeking to hamper Lebanese presidential elections to torpedo the international tribunal that would try suspects in the 2005 assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister Rafik Hariri and related crimes.Khaddam said Assad's scheme was also designed to provoke internal civil strife and create a power vacuum. "The Lebanon crisis is not one among the Lebanese, neither it is due to disputes over the presidential candidate," Khaddam said in remarks published on Tuesday. "The major reason for the crisis comes from outside Lebanon, from the alliance between the Iranian and Syrian regimes. This alliance wants a president (for Lebanon) that would serve their strategies from one side and helps torpedo the international court."
He said Assad uses his allies as well as secret agents to hamper the Lebanese election.