BEIRUT, 2 September 2005 — Lebanon’s pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud yesterday vowed to stay on in office, dismissing vocal calls for his resignation after the arrest of four top aides over the murder of former premier Rafiq Hariri.
His pledge came after the head of the UN probe into the murder said the president was “not a suspect” in the case and made clear that the investigation into the February assassination was far from over.
“I will continue to fulfill my responsibilities to safeguard the constitution, Lebanese laws and the integrity of Lebanese territory,” Lahoud said in a statement.
German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, who is heading the UN commission of inquiry, said there were “more people involved” in the assassination, following the arrest of five high-profile suspects close to Syria.
Mehlis said the arrests were “a very important step” in the probe into Hariri’s killing that has been widely blamed on former power broker Syria and its political allies in Lebanon at the time.
The five are Lahoud’s presidential guard head Mustafa Hamdan, former general security chief Jamil Al-Sayed, ex-internal security head Ali Al-Hage, former army intelligence director Raymond Azar and former lawmaker Nasser Qandil.
Qandil was freed after appearing before the UN commission on Tuesday but the other four remain in detention and face further questioning by a Lebanese investigating magistrate who will determine their immediate fate.
The arrests have ratcheted up the pressure on Lahoud, who has long denied allegations of complicity in the assassination and resisted calls to stand down.
Druze leader and prominent Lahoud critic Walid Jumblatt had predicted on Tuesday that the president would have to step down, saying it was finally “payback time” over the murder and further arrests would be on the way.
Mehlis said his commission had “extensively interviewed” the five suspects and was now going over their statements but he said they remained innocent until proven guilty.
Mehlis also turned the spotlight back on Syria itself, which has faced criticism for its alleged lack of cooperation, saying he was willing to travel there and was optimistic “problems” would be resolved.
“There were some problems but I’m optimistic that these problems can be solved,” he told a news conference. “They will have to be solved because without this cooperation we will not have a full picture.” He indicated that the investigation was far from being completed despite the arrests.
“These five suspects we have arrested are in our assessment only part of the picture. We will have to further investigate and we do think more people were involved,” he said.
“It is fair to say that the case is not closed and we still invite anyone inside and outside of Lebanon who may have information on this assassination to report it to us.”
The murder triggered massive opposition protests and heightened international pressure on Syria, which pulled its troops out of the country in April after a three-decade military presence.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, a protege of Hariri who was with him in opposition at the time of his assassination, urged people to respect the judicial process and refrain from putting a political spin on developments.
“We call on everyone, especially officials, to act in a responsible manner regarding the inquest without issuing commentaries... or trying to impose their views on the judicial system.
“We stress the need to respect the independence of the judicial system and to protect it from all interference or influence.”
Since the Hariri attack, there have been 11 bomb blasts in Lebanon, and several anti-Syrians including a politician and a journalist have been killed.
A number of prominent figures now spend much of their time outside the country for fear of assassination.
