Beirut, 26 Sept. (AKI) - The suicide bomber who killed the former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri and 23 others in Beirut was not Lebanese but foreign, according to experts working on the UN probe, who say a tooth found at the scene of the February 2005 blast holds clues. The fourth report of the UN commission head by Belgian judge Serge Brammertz, was given to secretary general Kofi Annan on Monday and will be discussed by the UN Security Council later this week. In the report, Brammertz said a tooth, found at the crime scene during the investigations carried out just after the explosion in February 2005, belonged to the same male person whose 27 parts were previously recovered.
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In the first report by the UN commission of inquiry, at the time led by the German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, there was an official reference to the involvement of the Syrian regime. Subsequent reports (December 2005, January and March 2006) have been more technical in nature. In the March report, drawn up by Brammertz, the Syrian authorities were praised for their cooperation. That same theme was continued, sources say, in the document consigned to UN headquarters on Monday, which states that the commission is in general terms satisfied with the cooperation received from Syria and that investigators will continue to "request full support to obtain information and facilitate meetings with (Syrian) people".
On this note the text notes that the commission will continue to question and re-question representatives and former representatives of Lebanese and Syrian government and state bodies.
There has been no official reaction from Syria to the report, but behind the scenes there is satisfaction over the fact that Damascus is no longer 'in the dock'. According to the director general of Syrian television, Fayez al-Sayegh, the report comes close to confirming the innocence of Syria, while the deputy foreign minister Faysal Miqdad says the document is "more positive" than previous ones.