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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Question of the day: Who is Mr. X? |
| 2005-10-21 |
| BEIRUT: "Who is Mr. X?" is the question on the lips of many Lebanese following the release of the much anticipated UN report which includes a telephone conversation, intercepted by the UN probe team, between former head of Syrian military intelligence in Lebanon, Rustom Ghazaleh, and a "prominent Lebanese official" simply referred to as "Mr. X." "May he rot in hell," said Mr. X to Ghazaleh during a call dated July 19, 2004, published in Detlev Mehlis' report on the investigation into the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri. Speculations ran high as to the identity of Mr. X, who made some of the strongest remarks in the report against the slain former Prime Minister. Later in the conversation, Ghazaleh says to Mr. X: "I wish to tell you one thing. Whenever we need to speak to Hariri we have to suck up to him and he does not always answer." To which Mr. X responds: "To hell with him. What do I care about him?" Ghazaleh continues: "What do I care about him? The President can't stand him so why should I?" The conversation ended with an agreement to stage a street protest on July 20 "in Solidere and Qoreitem." Interestingly, on July 20, a day after this taped conversation, Hariri declared "he would not step down" from his post because of recent criticism directed against him. Hariri said: "These campaigns are not new and have been going on for the past 12 years," adding: "They will not be behind my decision to step aside." The conversation was published to illustrate that "the structure and organization of the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services in Lebanon at the time of the blast, including protocols for reporting, shows a pervasive impact on everyday life in Lebanon," stated the report. Mr. X's real identity was never mentioned, in either censored or uncensored versions of the report. Mehlis explained that two versions exist due to a "technical error." However, the Al-Arabiyya news station said Mr. X could be Speaker Nabih Berri. When contacted by The Daily Star, Al-Arabiyya declined to comment as to why it chose to cast Berri as Mr. X. But Berri's representative in Lebanon Amal MP Ali Hassan Khalil, strongly denied the allegation. "We are not involved in any way, and we are not a suspect," said Khalil to The Daily Star. Asked why he thought Berri was named, he said: "To cause chaos, suspicion and political strife, which we will not fall for." Free Patriotic Movement leader General Michel Aoun said: "Mr. X will remain Mr. X until the final truth is known," adding he will also not speculate as to who it may be. Nonpoliticians were more willing to speculate, with names like "MP Michel Murr" being marked as "a maybe," but most had a difficult time pinning a name to Mr. X. But there were consistent observations made by all those contacted by The Daily Star. "He is definitely a person that Ghazaleh respects given the way he speaks to him," said Tarek Zebian, a student at AUB who has been a keen follower of the political developments in Lebanon. "He isn't a security figure, but a powerful politician who could dare to tell Hariri to resign," said Zebian, referring to a remark by Mr. X saying: "What about another option? I send [Hariri] a message saying, 'Resign goddamn it.'" |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #8 Mr. X? Ha! That guy is a so non-offensive you might as well call him Mr. R. If you really want the real thing, come see me! |
| Posted by: Mr. XXX 2005-10-21 22:21 |
| #7 Jean Luc Picard. |
| Posted by: Raj 2005-10-21 22:01 |
| #6 Alright, I'll admit to it. |
| Posted by: Mr.X 2005-10-21 21:02 |
| #5 Carville? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-10-21 19:26 |
| #4 |
| Posted by: doc 2005-10-21 19:18 |
#3 ![](http://www.devir.com.br/xmen/imgs/pc_xavier.jpg"/img) |
| Posted by: doc 2005-10-21 19:18 |
| #2 Mr. X an opera by the Hungarian composer, Imre Kalman 1882-1953 Mr. X - imdb - USSR 1958 Movie of the opera |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-10-21 17:26 |
| #1 That's Abu X to you, effendi. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-10-21 16:35 |