Hezbollah denial

In a statement posted on its Web site, Hezbollah rejected the allegations, calling them "fabrications" that were intended to affect the outcome of Lebanese general elections on June 7.

"Publishing these accusations and attributing them to sources close to the international court dents the credibility of the tribunal and its work and requires firm and clear action towards the publishers of these evil fabrications," it added.

German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel quoted sources close to the United Nations Special Tribunal for Lebanon – which is tasked with investigating the assassination of Hariri – saying that Lebanese investigators had, for the first time, linked Hezbollah’s "operational arm" with a number of cell phones used in the area at the time of Hariri’s death.

On February 14, 2005, a truck filled with explosives blew up near Hariri's motorcade, killing him and 22 others. Initial UN investigations implicated Syrian and Lebanese military officers but these details were later withheld pending further investigation.

"The investigation … is ongoing, work is continuing, unfortunately for purposes of maintaining the confidentiality of our work this is an investigation that looks like any police investigation throughout the world and it cannot be debated throughout the media," said Radhia Achouri, spokesperson for Daniel Bellemare, chief prosecutor for the UN special tribunal.

"We don't know where (Spiegel is) getting the story from," she added.

Mixed reactions

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who was meeting with Lebanese government officials in Beirut, denounced the German report as provocative, while Syria’s Foreign Minister said the article undermined the international investigation into Hariri’s death.

Saying that UN investigators had not questioned anyone from Hezbollah, Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh said that Der Spiegel's article was "totally false."

In Israel,however, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is reported to have told a weekly cabinet meeting that the article "just proves who we are dealing with."

Political consequences

The latest twist in the Hariri investigation comes at a time when the two factions contesting the upcoming general election are locked in a dead heat. On one side are the US-backed so-called "March 14" forces, led by Saad al-Hariri - the son of Rafik al-Hariri – which holds a parliamentary majority. On the other side is Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran and Syria.

Gil Yaron, a Middle East analyst and journalist working in the region, says that if the allegations were confirmed, that could cause Lebanese Christian swing voters to turn their backs on Hezbollah in support of the Sunni forces under Saad al-Hariri, thus delivering his party victory.

"In addition to this, these allegations could have international repercussions. The Arab states will certainly be very upset with Hezbollah, would it turn out that Hezbollah has killed a Sunni, very prominent politician," Yaron said.

"But also the new policy of rapprochement that the UK and other European states have formulated trying to talk to Hezbollah, would certainly see a revaluation, should it turn out that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization which also kills Arab politicians."

Author: Darren Mara

Editor: Susan Houlton