The confirmed indictment and an arrest warrant were transmitted confidentially to the Lebanese authorities on August 6 so that they could search for, arrest and transfer the accused to STL custody, announced the tribunal in a statement on Thursday.
The Lebanese authorities were given 30 calendar days to carry out this obligation and report back on their efforts by September 5, 2013.
On September 6, the Lebanese Prosecutor General submitted his confidential report to Tribunal President, Judge Sir David Baragwanath, stating that so far the accused has not been found. Subsequently, the STL President requested additional measures be taken by the Lebanese authorities.
All of these steps have been confidential until now to allow the Lebanese authorities the best opportunity to apprehend the accused, continued the STL statement.
Merhi, is charged with a number of crimes including the crime of conspiracy aimed at committing a terrorist act. He is alleged to have acted in a conspiracy with Hizbullah members Mustafa Amin Badreddine, Salim Jamil Ayyash, Hussein Hassan Oneissi, and Assad Hassan Sabra in relation to the attack on February 14, 2005, all of whom have already been indicted.
The accused Merhi is alleged to have coordinated the preparation of the purported claim of responsibility as part of the preparations for and in furtherance of, the attack, said the STL statement.
The STL said Merhi is "a supporter of Hizbullah" who was born on December 12, 1965 in Beirut.
"He is the son of Habib Merhi and Latifa Abbas," it added, revealing that he has resided in Burj al-Barajneh and that "he is a citizen of Leb" whose "Lebanese civil registration is 1126/Zqaq-EI-Blat."
"Merhi, together with Badreddine, coordinated the preparation of the false claim of responsibility, and, at times, was in contact with Ayyash in relation to the preparations for the attack. Merhi, prior to the attack, coordinated the activities of Oneissi and Sabra in order to identify a suitable individual, later identified as Ahmad Abu Adass, who would be used to make a video-taped false claim of responsibility for the attack," the court announced in its indictment.
"Immediately following the attack, Merhi, coordinated the activities of Oneissi and Sabra, who participated in (i) disseminating statements falsely attributing responsibility for the attack; (ii) ensuring the delivery of the video, with a letter attached, containing the false claim of responsibility to Al-Jazeera
... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means the Peninsula,as in the Arabian Peninsula. In recent years it has settled in to become slightly less biased than MSNBC, in about the same category as BBC or CBS...
; and (iii) ensuring the video would be broadcast," it added.
Under the current circumstances in Leb, Baragwanath has deemed the efforts by the Lebanese authorities to be sufficient to justify alternative means to search for the accused. As a result, he has determined to initiate a 30-day public advertisement phase with the help of the Lebanese authorities to locate the accused as well as to inform him of the charges against him and of his rights, which are guaranteed under international law.