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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Progress reported in El-Hajj murder probe |
| 2007-12-29 |
| New clues have surfaced in the murder of Brigadier General Francois el-Hajj former chief of Lebanese army operations , after authorities identified the owners of the BMW car that was used in the Dec. 12 assassination, according to local media reports. Beirut dailies An Nahar and As Safir on Friday said progress has been made in the investigation into el-Hajj's murder after the Lebanese intelligence service obtained pictures of the two men who bought the car that was used in the bombing. The BMW vehicle that was rigged with over 35 kilograms ( 77 lbs) of explosives was bought in the village of Abra east of the southern port city of Sidon. An Nahar said the intelligence apparatus in south Lebanon was able to determine how the car was purchased prior to the explosion in Baabda that killed el-Hajj and his bodyguard, Kheirallah Hadwan. It said the two suspects are believed to be Lebanese. Meanwhile, As Safir raised questions as to why the suspects' photos were not published in the media. It quoted sources, however, as saying that a U.N. international probe investigating the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and seven other anti-Syrian figures has demanded that the suspects pictures not be published. Saeed Mirza, Lebanon's prosecutor-general, described as "inaccurate" the reports by An Nahar and As Safir and asked for an investigation into the matter. Hajj was a leading candidate to succeed the present army chief, General Michel Suleiman. His assassination was described by some analysts as a message to Suleiman, whose candidacy for president has been supported by both March 8 and March 14 alliances, but faces an uphill battle due to a set of precondition the opposition is trying to impose prior to the presidential election. The majority alliance called these preconditions “extortion and blackmail” |
| Posted by:Fred |