On the Investigation into Hariri's Killing.
According to the government controlled Al Thawrah daily on March 15: "In a telephone conversation Al Thawrah held with him in New York, Assistant Foreign Minister Dr Faysal Al-Miqdad said the first report by Serge Brammertz, chief of the International Investigation Commission, was characterized by realism and a great deal of professionalism. With regard to Syria's cooperation, Al-Miqdad said Syria's commitment to cooperation was made during the visits that the head of the commission made to Syria and the visits that Syrian officials made to Beirut. Al-Miqdad said the previous scandalous reports gave the media an opportunity to prejudge things, but the new report did not offer such an opportunity. "... The analysts said the report was a slap in the face of the forces that immediately blamed Syria after every crime in Lebanon. They pointed out that the report brought the investigation back into the legal framework..." - Al Thawrah, Syria
Syria is making the most of the fact that the report said Syria was cooperating, no Syrians were named personally as they had been in the Mehlis reports. Also Syria was not directly mentioned as the author of the crime. Because of these three improvements, Syria claimed a qualified victory. The report makes it perfectly clear, however, that Syria remains the only suspect of the UN commission in its ultimate responsibility for the killing of Hariri and ordering the crime. What is new, however, is that Brammertz seems to be discounting the testimony given by both Hussam Hussam and Saddiq, which provided the most lurid parts of Mehlis' crime narrative. Mehlis persisted to the end in insisting that Hussam Hussam's testimony given to the commission remained valid and believable. Brammertz seems to have questioned Mehlis' wisdom on this.
In short, Damascus can breathe a bit easier for the time being. As al-Nahar reports: A well-informed Syrian source told An Nahar that Brammertz’ report represented ‘the beginning of a new era, the most important aspect of which is the withdrawal of the pressure sword that’s been pointed at Syria for over a year’. “Nonetheless, the source indicated that ‘the outcome of the report does not mean that the US pressures will cease. Its importance stems from the fact that it restored Syrian dignity and shed light on its strategic decision to fully cooperate with the International Investigation Commission…’ The report was issued in parallel with an important first visit, paid by the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al Muallem to Moscow,… and during which the issue of mutual Russian and Syrian efforts were addressed, in order to soften Hamas’ positions.
According to the government controlled Al Thawrah daily on March 15: "In a telephone conversation Al Thawrah held with him in New York, Assistant Foreign Minister Dr Faysal Al-Miqdad said the first report by Serge Brammertz, chief of the International Investigation Commission, was characterized by realism and a great deal of professionalism. With regard to Syria's cooperation, Al-Miqdad said Syria's commitment to cooperation was made during the visits that the head of the commission made to Syria and the visits that Syrian officials made to Beirut. Al-Miqdad said the previous scandalous reports gave the media an opportunity to prejudge things, but the new report did not offer such an opportunity. "... The analysts said the report was a slap in the face of the forces that immediately blamed Syria after every crime in Lebanon. They pointed out that the report brought the investigation back into the legal framework..." - Al Thawrah, Syria
Syria is making the most of the fact that the report said Syria was cooperating, no Syrians were named personally as they had been in the Mehlis reports. Also Syria was not directly mentioned as the author of the crime. Because of these three improvements, Syria claimed a qualified victory. The report makes it perfectly clear, however, that Syria remains the only suspect of the UN commission in its ultimate responsibility for the killing of Hariri and ordering the crime. What is new, however, is that Brammertz seems to be discounting the testimony given by both Hussam Hussam and Saddiq, which provided the most lurid parts of Mehlis' crime narrative. Mehlis persisted to the end in insisting that Hussam Hussam's testimony given to the commission remained valid and believable. Brammertz seems to have questioned Mehlis' wisdom on this.
In short, Damascus can breathe a bit easier for the time being. As al-Nahar reports: A well-informed Syrian source told An Nahar that Brammertz’ report represented ‘the beginning of a new era, the most important aspect of which is the withdrawal of the pressure sword that’s been pointed at Syria for over a year’. “Nonetheless, the source indicated that ‘the outcome of the report does not mean that the US pressures will cease. Its importance stems from the fact that it restored Syrian dignity and shed light on its strategic decision to fully cooperate with the International Investigation Commission…’ The report was issued in parallel with an important first visit, paid by the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al Muallem to Moscow,… and during which the issue of mutual Russian and Syrian efforts were addressed, in order to soften Hamas’ positions.
1 comment:
Thank you for posting. I find reading your posts disturbing, but necessary.
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