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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hariri sons fled 'to escape' the assassin bullets
2005-03-18
LONDON — Two sons of assassinated former prime minister Rafik Hariri have fled Lebanon after hearing that they too are in danger of assassination, a media report here said.
"Golden sandals don't fail me now!"
The report, appearing in Independent, said Hariri's elder son, Bahar, has flown to Geneva while Saad has left hurriedly for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, after warnings that they could be the next targets of their father's assassins.
Riyadh? Did he draw the short straw?
The report also claimed that the United Nations' Irish-led special investigation team would report that the Lebanese authorities have covered up evidence of the murder on 14 February of the former prime minister. According to the report, UN's Irish, Egyptian and Moroccan investigation team has now been joined by three Swiss bomb experts following the discovery that many of the smashed vehicles in Hariri's convoy were moved from the scene of the massacre only hours afterwards - and before there was time for an independent investigation.
Oh, the surprise! I feel faint, I'd best go lie down ...
"(On Sunday), frogmen were sent into the sea off the Beirut Corniche to recover the wreckage of the one car in the Hariri convoy that was not taken away by the authorities because it was blasted over a hotel wall into the Mediterranean by the force of the explosion", it said. "If they successfully recover parts of the vehicle, they may be able to discover the nature of the explosives. First reports that Hariri was killed by a car bomb are now being challenged by evidence that the explosives - estimated at 600kg could have been buried beneath the seafront avenue",
Tossed a car into the drink so it wasn't little.
According to the report, a "unique photograph handed to The Independent in Beirut which is now also in the hands of the UN investigators - was taken on the afternoon of 12 February, about 36 hours before the bombing. It shows a drain cover in the road at the exact spot where the explosion was to tear a 30-foot crater in the highway, instantly killing Hariri and many of his bodyguards".
There's a drain cover in front of my house, too.
Posted by:Steve White

#5  Those who try to assinate their way to power get really obsessive about others ascending to positions of power, democratically elected or not, in the wake (pardon the pun) of their fathers having once held high office.
The thugs who want to assassinate Hariris sons want the very thing they think Hariris sons might possibly want, namely to make their way to leadership positions, the difference being the thugs want to do it by force in a Lebanon that is not a free and liberated Lebanon.
The crime syndicates who run autocratic regimes in the Middle East and elsewhere are plagued with rival attempts to achieve the exact same autocracy over and over and over again, through one cuop after another. Makes the whole thing seem pointless until the rackett is run down by the worlds superpower doing the right thing for a change. thank you Mr. Bush
Posted by: Annie War   2005-03-18 3:59:14 PM  

#4  Consider the nature of public services there in Beruit . . . not non-existent, but not as competent as the immediate clean-up would imply. Maybe they just got a commisioner of roads who is ambitious . . .
Posted by: Jame Retief   2005-03-18 12:13:24 PM  

#3  Bzzzzzzt - bad answer, good sarcasm though, TW - a blast like that would require complete removal/replacement of the soils at 90-95% compaction to provide a stable road bed for the future. This work had nothing to do with reopening a road...coverup badly done
Posted by: Frank G   2005-03-18 11:23:54 AM  

#2  I they seem keep them closed forever in the UK. They take their time for forensic evidence gathering it seems. They set a tent up in the middle of the road and take their time.
Posted by: Sock Puppet O’ Doom   2005-03-18 5:17:15 AM  

#1  Authorities here would have cleared the street, too, once the casualties had been taken care of. Major thoroughfares can't be kept blocked for weeks for the convenience of dilatory foreign investigators.
Posted by: trailing wife   2005-03-18 4:20:46 AM  

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