Whitaker: Beirut murder mystery

Not often do I post articles. Here's one which might be of some interest to you for several reasons; one being Brian Whitaker's skills. Another is the amount of information in the article. It's a well-detailed recap and aggregation of many aspects of the February 14 and to events related.

The international investigation into the murder of Rafik Hariri finally got under way last week, four months and two days after the devastating explosion that killed the former Lebanese prime minister along with at least 20 other people as he drove along the Beirut seafront.

The investigation was ordered by the United Nations security council after a fact-finding mission accused the security forces in Lebanon - who at the time were effectively under Syrian control - of "systematic negligence" in tracking down the killers.

A senior prosecutor from the German attorney general's office, Detlev Mehlis, is leading the investigation and will be assisted by staff from more than 20 countries.

So far, only a few facts about the assassination have been firmly established. At a press conference last Friday, Mehlis cleared up one much-debated question - about the type of bomb used.

Supporters of Hariri had argued that the explosives were placed under the road - either in a tunnel or buried when the road was dug up a few days earlier - but international experts are now certain "beyond any reasonable doubt" that the explosion occurred above ground, Mehlis said. "We are talking here about a probability of 99.9%," he added.

...

Despite the mild manner of Mr Mehlis, the UN investigation could prove a ticking time bomb for the Damascus regime and also President Lahoud, depending on how close the trail leads towards his palace.