Brother Accuses France of Killing Siddiq: US Accuses French and Swiss of Breaking Spirit of Sanctions
Posted by Joshua on Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
France Accused Of Killing Witness In Hariri Probe-AFP
DAMASCUS (AFP)–The brother of a Syrian witness in the probe on former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri's murder accused France of involvement in killing the man, in a Syrian newspaper interview published on Wednesday.
"The French authorities helped facilitate the disappearance of Mohammed Zuheir al-Saddiq with the aim of his being liquidated by another party or they liquidated him themselves," charged Imad al-Sadiq.
"My brother was under the protection of French authorities," he told Al-Watan newspaper, which is close to the Syrian government.
Saddiq, who lives in Damascus, accused "Lebanese parties", including Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh, of having plotted "with the French to kill (my) brother."
"The assassins want the finger of blame to be pointed at Syria, on the basis that it was the only party to benefit from his disappearance."
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Tuesday that the witness, a former intelligence officer, had disappeared from his suburban home in the French capital.
"But I do not know under what conditions and if there was a police presence to watch him," he said.
Saddiq, who was under an international arrest warrant requested by a Lebanese prosecutor, was detained in October 2005 in a Paris suburb in connection with the February 2005 assassination of Hariri.
France refused to extradite him to Lebanon because it hadn't been given guarantees that he wouldn't be liable to the death penalty there if convicted of a crime.
Saddiq's family says it has had no contact with him for two months.
Newspaper reports in 2006 quoted him as saying that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his then Lebanese counterpart, Emile Lahoud, ordered the Hariri assassination in a massive Beirut car bombing.
A political crisis that has rattled the country since the murder is widely seen as an extension of the regional confrontation pitting the U.S. and its Saudi ally against Iran and Syria.
Addendum: (2 hours after posting) Syria has not arrested anyone, and certainly not a Saudi, in connection with the Mughniyeh murder. The Fars News agency and Jerusalem Post are muckraking here. And as MSK points out in the comments, all diplomats, including Saudis have immunity.
Syria arrests Saudi in Mughniyeh probe from Jerusalem Post
Syria has arrested a Saudi official in connection with the assassination of top Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyeh, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported Tuesday.
Imad Mughniyeh.
Photo: FBI Website
The agency quoted an Iranian source as saying a high-ranking defense official in Saudi Arabia's embassy in Damascus was arrested by Syrian security forces.
The source said Israel masterminded the assassination, but the operation itself was carried out by locals with Syrian, Jordanian and Palestinian citizenships. These men bought or rented apartments near Mughniyeh's place of residence in Damascus and surveyed his activities from there, the source said.
The Saudi official, he said, was connected to a Syrian woman in whose name were registered the two explosives-laden cars used to kill Mughniyeh.
Fars also claimed that the results of the Syrian inquiry should have already been published, and blamed the delay on pressure from Gulf states including Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
GENEVA (AFP) – Switzerland shrugged off a renewed attack over a gas supply deal with Iran Wednesday, after a Jewish group took out full page ads in international and Swiss newspapers charging that the country is funding terror.
Industry leaders and the government reiterated that international laws and regulations were respected in the deal and that the allegations by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) "did not correspond to the facts".
Advertisements headed, "Guess who is the world's newest financier of terrorism? Switzerland," appeared in the International Herald Tribune, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times on Tuesday.
In Switzerland, the advertisements in newspapers Le Matin Bleu, Le Temps, and Neue Zuercher Zeitung charged: "When you finance a terrorist state, you finance terrorism."
Explaining the move, the ADL said it is "concerned that Iran's profits from the energy deal could help the regime to accelerate and complete its nuclear weapons program".
It could also "provide tens of thousands of additional missiles to Hezbollah and Hamas, two terrorist groups and sworn enemies of Israel who routinely benefit from Tehran's largesse," the ADL said.
The deal, signed during Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey's visit to Tehran mid-March, had earlier come under sharp condemnation from the United States and Israel.
Financial details were not disclosed but the contract between Iran's state gas firm and Switzerland's Elektrizitaets-Gesellschaft (EGL) Laufenburg reportedly envisages Iran supplying 5.5 billion cubic metres (194 trillion cubic feet) of gas annually from 2011.
A Swiss foreign ministry spokesman stressed Wednesday that the state of Switzerland is not involved in the deal.
But he said the contract "is in full conformity with the existing UN sanctions against Iran", as well as the US Iran Sanctions Act.
He also pointed out that there are at least 10 other countries with major energy deals with Iran, including Japan, France and Italy.
While he would not comment on specific elements in the advertisements, he said that "all those reproaches in those paid ads do not correspond with the facts".
Swiss industry leaders too, were unfazed by the criticism.
EGL spokesman Bogdan Preda said Wednesday he had no further comment on the issue, other than to reiterate that the deal "respected all national and international agreements".
The president of Swiss energy group Axpo, of which EGL is a member, Heinz Karrer, told tabloid Blick that it is "incomprehensible" that Switzerland is seen to be financing terrorism, pointing out that "many other countries" also obtain energy from Iran.
Head of the Economie Suisse business umbrella group Gerold Buehrer also told the newspaper that he "stood behind the deal at the beginning", and that he "still stands behind it".
The US embassy in Bern said at the time that it believes the deal "violates the spirit of the sanctions" imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in a bid to try to force Iran to give up its programme of uranium enrichment and cooperate further with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Even Calmy-Rey's visit itself was keenly watched, with Swiss politicians and observers criticising her for wearing a headscarf in Iran.
"Just like an oppressed woman!" charged the headline of the tabloid Le Matin, which splashed a picture of Calmy-Rey with the scarf on its front page.
Calmy-Rey justified her action by saying that "I have always been told that when you are a guest, you respect local customs."
Comments (19)
MSK said:
Dear Josh,
I read the same story on the Saudi connection. Of course, diplomats cannot be arrested and, if they erroneously are put in custody, have to be immediately released. The host country can ask the diplomat’s country to waive his/her immunity and then arrest and prosecute him/her – but I highly doubt that KSA would respond positively to such a request …
It looks like a typical Fars News hoax. But then, why should Al-Siyasah have a monopoly? 😉
My favorite part (in the Naharnet version, not JPost) is this:
The report carried by the Italian news agency, Aki, said Fars quoted unnamed sources as saying that Syria’s delay in announcing the results of the probe into Mughniyeh’s killing “cannot be explained other than by the pressure exercised by some Arab states.”
Fars, which is close to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said the Syrian commission of inquiry was supposed to have concluded its investigation and the results should have been made public before the Arab League summit in Damascus March 29-30.
Yes, the fact that despite claims to find the perpetrators within a few days after the crime the Syrian gov’t has still not said anything can ONLY be because Kuwait & KSA pressured Syria. (How, one wonders …)
Hahahahaha.
–MSK*
April 9th, 2008, 1:01 pm
T said:
Al Siyasa, Fars and US zio-media are not alone. All have their overlords huh? Now the ‘opposition’ alternative media is coming out of the closet and scoring the same (taxpayer funded) all-expense paid tours to Israel usually reserved for Congress and JINSA military men.
Daily KOS to visit Sderot – paid by Israel
Sabbah’s blog April 8, 2008
Almost a year ago, old readers here remember my story (along with many pro-Palestine, anti-Zionism bloggers) with the so called American “left-wing” website called Daily KOS.
I fell of the chair laughing today when I read that:
Prominent writers, members of progressive American organizations known for their heavy criticism of Israel will tour the country, meet with top officials. ‘We want to provide them with an eye-opening experience that will help them better understand the complexity of the Arab-Israeli conflict,’ says trip organizer Ira Forman.
Among the “guests”, Daily Kos editor David Waldman!
You can read the details here. Keep in mind the history of Daily KOS with Palestinian and pro-Palestine bloggers, this whole thing is a joke. All pro-Palestine, pro-Peace, anti-Apartheid, anti-Zionism bloggers knows very well that Daily KOS is not Israel critical. How can they be when they banned each and every “Palestinian” blogger there for no reason, while Zionists still enjoy there the full time show?
Simply, it’s time that Israel pay back the “left-wing” Daily KOS for job well done.
The news report that DK editor will visit Sderot (not the settlements) as well as:
The guests are also scheduled to visit with the top negotiator for the Palestinian Authority, Saeb Erekat and may also meet Prime Minister Ehud Olmert or Foreign Affairs Minister Tzipi Livni.
Will DK tell Mr. Erekat how many Palestinian bloggers they kicked out? How about visiting Gaza and going through some of the “checkpoints” in Occupied Palestine, Mr. “left-wing”?
So much for U.S. “left wing” bloggers… a nice Israeli propaganda tour… (not paid by the lobby, but directly by Israel).
Welcome to the “left-wing” Independent Media!
——————————————————
…And the bit the ADL left out of their condemnation of Switzerland re: the Swiss gas deal–
Israel’s Tehran connection
Israel, while supposedly observing an ironclad boycott of all things Iranian, is happily buying Iranian oil
Richard Silverstein The Guardian April 4, 2008
If you’ve ever wondered about the definition of hypocrisy you’ll find the answer right here.
Last month the Swiss foreign minister visited Iran and, together with President Ahmadinejad, attended the signing of a multi-billion euro contract for Iran to supply Switzerland with large amounts of natural gas over the next 25 years.
The US State Department immediately condemned the deal and said it would be investigating whether it breached the Iran Sanctions Act. Israel complained too, describing the Swiss minister’s visit to Tehran as an “act unfriendly to Israel”. Various Jewish groups also joined in the protests, including the World Jewish Congress.
This righteous indignation was entirely predictable but more than a little odd nevertheless. On March 30, the Swiss newspaper Sonntag retaliated with the revelation that Israel, supposedly observing an ironclad boycott of all things Iranian, has been buying Iranian oil for years.
The story is in German but Israeli journalist Shraga Elam has provided me with a translation which I’ll quote from here.
“Israel imports Iranian oil on a large scale even though contacts with Iran and purchasing of its products are officially boycotted by Israel. Israel gets around the boycott by having the oil delivered via Europe. A reliable Israeli energy newsletter, EnergiaNews, reported this last week [March 18] …
“EnergiaNews got the information about the Iran trade from sources with ties to the management of Israeli Oil Refineries Ltd … According to EnergiaNews the Iranian oil is liked in Israel because its quality is better than other crude oils.
“The report by EnergiaNews editor Moshe Shalev states that the Iranian oil reaches various European ports, mainly in Rotterdam. It is bought by Israelis and the necessary European bill of lading and insurance papers are supplied. Then it is transported to Haifa in Israel. The importer is the Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Co (EAPC), which keeps its oil sources secret.”
EAPC was established in 1968 as a joint Israeli-Iranian company to transport oil from Iran to Europe. After the fall of the Shah, Iran ceased to play an active role in its affairs and there are ongoing legal disputes between the two partners.
The Swiss report continued:
“It is not clear if the Iranian exporters know about Israeli purchases of their oil. At the other end, the Israeli buyers and governmental offices are well aware of where the high-grade oil comes from, although it is a blatant defiance of the boycott. The EnergiaNews article even made it through Israeli censorship, which asked only for some changes in the text. The fact that the report cleared the censors increases the credibility of the information. In the past, such reports were forbidden.
“When questioned by Sonntag, an energy expert of one of the leading Israeli papers confirmed the EnergiaNews report: Israel has been importing Iranian oil for many years. The expert stressed, however, that the purchases were made on the free market and not directly from Iran.”
Sonntag quoted a spokesman for Oil Refineries Ltd as denying that his company imports and processes Iranian oil. However, Sonntag pointed to a report in Haaretz newspaper last October which said that an Israeli energy company called Paz would be refining Iranian oil and supplying it to the Palestinian Authority from the start of this year.
This begs the question: if Iran is, as Bibi Netanyahu argues, an existential threat to Israel, why does the government allow such trade? Would Israel have the US attack Iran’s nuclear programme and provoke a potential region-wide conflict while it cannot seem to wean itself from high quality Iranian crude? You’d think if Israelis are cowering in fear from an Iranian bomb and the arch antisemite Ahmadinejad, they wouldn’t want to trade with such an enemy.
When is a boycott not a boycott? When it’s in your naked economic interest to circumvent it, apparently. But one should ask: if Israel doesn’t honour its self-declared boycott of Iran, why should the rest of the world honour its boycott of Hamas and Gaza? If Israel doesn’t honour its own boycott, then why should members of Congress vote with AIPAC when it proposes a measure that even Israel honours only in the breach?
It’s interesting to note from a discussion (in Hebrew) on the Kedma website that Israel does not formally define Iran as an “enemy nation” and therefore in a strictly legal sense such trade is permissible. Ironically, Iran too has a boycott against Israel in place and is violating its own measures in that regard. Furthermore, the same commenter notes that Israel last week dismissed attempts to engage Syria in a diplomatic process as a failure because Syria refuses to renounce its ties with Iran. Do I hear the word “hypocrisy
April 9th, 2008, 1:14 pm
Naji said:
So, it seems that reports of the demise of the Syrian regime by mid-June (when the UN tribunal was supposed to start) have been greatly exaggerated… again…!! The Jazeera is reporting that, according to “informed sources”, Syria came out as the biggest winner at the end of yesterdays UN Security Council session… The same sources are also expecting a scandal to emerge out of the whole Siddiq fiasco and out of the allegations of the detained Lebanese officers that they were pressured to implicate the Syrian regime… Apparently these issues were discussed heatedly during the closed session…!!
Another sign that the whole campaign against Syria has finally collapsed under the weight of its own maliciousness and the ineptitude of its protagonists, is that the major Swiss private banks, who only a year ago were asking their Syrian clients to take their assets and their business elsewhere, are all of a sudden swarming the place looking for new clients and holding public functions to promote their banks to wealthy Syrians. Credit Agricole is holding four days of dinner functions with Michelin Star chefs, and one cannot shake off the representatives of the other major banks…!! Also, for the past couple of years you could not get even the lowest ranking employee from any major European multinational company to visit you in Syria even if you were trying to close the deal of the century and his future depended on it: there were just too many travel, financial, and other business restrictions. Now all of a sudden, even without a business prospect, you find top European managers trying to squeeze themselves into your appointment schedule between your meeting with their Indian rival and your next meeting with their compatriot private banker…!! Times have changed indeed… and how quickly…!!!
It seems the world has finally learned that, if there will be any change in the governance of Syria, it will have to be at the hands and at the pleasure of the Syrians themselves, and not by juvenile neo-con plots or senile Saudi treachery. Paradoxically, much credit for that fact goes to the present Syrian regime itself. For that, it has earned the respect of the Syrian people and of their adversaries…!!
April 9th, 2008, 3:13 pm
Qifa Nabki said:
Music to a Baathist’s ears…
The next time I hear you call Alex a “regime cheerleader” will I ever have the perfect quote for you, my friend.
April 9th, 2008, 4:56 pm
Naji said:
I did say “paradoxically”, didn’t I…?! …and, implicit in the first quote, you will find an invitation to Syrians to change their lot by themselves…
One has to keep an open mind and give credit where credit is due… intellectual honesty and all that… otherwise you would be quoting me the next time I call AIG/AP by that forbidden M-word… 😉
Anyway, I reserve the right to change my mind at any time…!
April 9th, 2008, 5:19 pm
Qifa Nabki said:
That’s what I like about you, ya Naji. But one of these days, you’re going to have to prove your mettle to me, and write a deeply trenchant critique of the otherwise respectable Syrian regime.
T,
I loved the piece about Daily KOS. What a bunch of retards.
This is one of the most frustrating things to me about the American left.
April 9th, 2008, 5:34 pm
bondo said:
daily kos and other left wing outlets and many, most left critics of israeli policies are gate keepers for israel and or jewry. they are here, there, everywhere to limit, redirect the criticisms of israel, the lobby. eg, daily kos, chomsky, zunes, even n. finkelstein.
April 9th, 2008, 7:19 pm
Alex said:
Here is the real story .. again, exclusive to the mighty Al-Syassa
اتصال هاتفي رد فيه على شائعات اختفائه أو تصفيته التي يرددها نظام دمشق وحزب الله
سأكون أول الداخلين إلى المحكمة بأدلتي عن الضباط الأربعة وشركائهم السوريين في اغتيال الحريري
الصديق لـ »السياسة«: أنا بخير وفي مكان سري قرب المحكمة الدولية
»السياسة« – خاص:
قطع »الشاهد الملك« – كما يسمى – في جريمة اغتيال رئيس الوزراء اللبناني الاسبق الشهيد رفيق الحريري محمد زهير الصديق دابر التداولات التي تحدثت عن اختفائه, وكشف في اتصال اجراه امس ب¯ »السياسة« انه يقيم في مخبأ سري آمن على مقربة من الأراضي الفرنسية والمحكمة الدولية وانه بصحة جيدة, مضيفا ان الشائعات التي اطلقت حول اختفائه خلال الايام القليلة الماضية كانت اما موجهة ومدسوسة او كانت عبارة عن تكهنات وتحليلات صحافية.
وقال الصديق من مكان اقامته السري: »انا مازلت في أوروبا وفي مكان آمن, وكما ذكر وزير الخارجية الفرنسي برنار كوشنير فإنني كنت لفترة سابقة في اقامة جبرية وليس في الملاهي الباريسية كما كان يزعم أزلام سورية وعملاؤها في لبنان كالوزير السابق وئام وهاب ورئيس تحرير صحيفة »الديار« شارل ايوب.
وكشف الصديق ان اختفاءه عن الانظار خلال الاسابيع القليلة الماضية جاء في سياق سعيه الى حماية نفسه من اي استهداف يتعرض له, مشيرا الى انه ارسل رسائل عدة الى لجنة التحقيق الدولية والى القضاء اللبناني يعلمهما فيها ان حياته في خطر وانه تعرض لثلاث محاولات اغتيال, (كانت »السياسة« قد نشرت اثنتين منها سابقا) كان اخرها محاولة قتله بالسم, لكنه نجا منها بأعجوبة.
واوضح انه نتيجة عدم تحرك لجنة التحقيق لحمايته (كما قال) قرر الاختفاء عن الانظار والاقامة في مكان سري الى حين فتح المحكمة الدولية ابوابها ليكون اول الداخلين اليها. لكنه رغم اختفائه طالب لجنة التحقيق الدولية بتحمل مسؤولياتها وتقديم الحماية المطلوبة له ولافراد عائلته, مضيفا انه في حال استمر تقاعس اللجنة عن حمايته فانه سيلجأ الى مقاضاتها بتهمتي »خداع الشهود والتخلي عنهم«.
وتعليقا على المحاولات السورية الحثيثة والمتصاعدة لاطلاق سراح الضباط اللبنانيين الاربعة الموقوفين بتهمة التورط في اغتيال الحريري قال الصديق: »انا مازلت مصرا على ان الضباط الاربعة وشركاءهم السوريين هم الذين قتلوا الرئيس الحريري, وانا املك الادلة الدامغة التي سيجري تقديمها الى المحكمة الدولية في موعدها كما انني مازلت مصرا على شهادتي التي ادليت بها امام لجنة التحقيق الدولية«.
وكان اختفاء الصديق اثار جدلا واسعا على ارفع المستويات في فرنسا وخارجها لاسيما في لبنان وسورية حيث سارع انصار النظام السوري من المعارضة اللبنانية الى استثمار هذا الاختفاء المزعوم وكان »حزب الله« ابرز الذين سارعوا الى ركوب موجة غياب الصديق عن مسرح الاحداث فبادر نائبه في البرلمان حسن فضل الله الى اتهام فرنسا باخفاء الشاهد الصديق متسائلا: هل لدى فرنسا معلومات تؤثر على مسار التحقيق في جريمة اغتيال الحريري ويتم اخفاؤها? وهل ثمة تواطؤ مع اطراف محلية لها مصلحة في صرف التحقيق عن مساره لمنعه من الوصول الى الحقيقة?
وقال فضل الله انه »كان حريا بكوشنير ان يكشف الاسباب الحقيقية التي دفعت الى اخفاء »الشاهد الملك« ولماذا رفضت فرنسا تسليمه الى السلطات اللبنانية رغم المطالبة به.
وفي موازاة الغبطة السورية السرية من »اختفاء الصديق وادلته على تورط نظام دمشق في الاغتيال, عمدت وسائل الاعلام التابعة للنظام الى توجيه الاتهامات الى باريس, واتهمت صحيفة »الوطن« السورية نقلا عن عائلة الصديق, السلطات الفرنسية باخفائه بغرض تصفيته جسديا من قبل جهة اخرى, او ان تكون تلك السلطات هي التي صفته.
ونقلت الصحيفة السورية عن عماد الصديق شقيق زهير ان شقيقه لم يطأ دولة الامارات التي تردد انه لجأ اليها, وان الهدف من مزاعم الفرار الى الامارات هو محاولة يائسة لزعزعة العلاقات الطيبة بين سورية والامارات.
وفيما رفضت فرنسا التعليق على تصريحات شقيق الصديق فقد اعلنت الناطقة باسم الخارجية الفرنسية باسكال اندرياني ان »الصديق غادر منزله الذي يقيم فيه في فرنسا في الثالث عشر من مارس الماضي وانه على الاغلب غادر الاراضي الفرنسية للالتحاق بعائلته التي سبقته«. واعتبرت باريس ان لا مبرر لابلاغ لجنة التحقيق الدولية باختفائه, وهو ما يرجح فرضية ان يكون الشاهد السوري اتخذ قراره بالانتقال الى مكانه السري بمعزل عن التنسيق مع السلطات الفرنسية
April 9th, 2008, 10:23 pm
Alex said:
And more “news” of Syria begging for mercy …
Rice rules out deal to spare Assad clan in Hariri probe
9 April 2008
Agence France Presse
English
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008 All reproduction and presentation rights reserved.
WASHINGTON, April 9, 2008 (AFP) –
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ruled out Wednesday any deal with Syria to keep President Bashar al-Assad’s regime or family from being implicated in a former Lebanese premier’s murder.
Senator Arlen Specter told Rice during a Senate committee’s hearing that Jordan’s King Abdullah II recently told him that Assad was concerned about the international tribunal that will try suspects in the assassination of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri.
Specter floated the idea of launching negotiations with Damascus to gain political progress in the region in exchange for reduced sentences in the case.
Abdullah “said that the item that is most on the mind of President Bashar Assad is the action of the international tribunal which could lead to his indictment and raised the possibility that that might be in the mix,” he said.
But Rice responded: “I don’t think that it would be appropriate to suggest that we might be willing to limit the scope of this tribunal on the assassination of Rafiq Hariri … because it might somehow implicate either the regime or the Assad family.”
“I know that has been on their mind, but I think that would be a very bad step. I think it would be bad for Lebanon, and bad for international justice,” she told the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Rice recalled that the tribunal has not been formed yet and that Washington has be careful not to politicize it.
“Our efforts have been not to focus the tribunal toward Syria, or about Syria, or about the Assad family, but rather to try and ensure the smooth …. working of the tribunal,” she said.
“I think that is the appropriate place for us to be. After all, the tribunal was created under a United Nations Security Council resolution and it needs to take place with integrity,” Rice said.
Specter said: “I am inclined to agree with you about that.”
A UN probe has implicated senior Syrian officials in the car bomb attack that killed Hariri, an opponent of Syria’s influence on Lebanon, and 22 other people on February 14, 2005.
Syria, which for three decades was the power broker in its smaller neighbor, has vehemently denied any connection with Hariri’s death.
April 9th, 2008, 10:27 pm
Naji said:
Alex,
I just want you to know that while you were away, your young friend QN tried to give me your title of “regime cheerleader” and that I firmly declined that honor, telling him that I wouldn’t dream of it… that title will forever belong to Alex… that’s how we do things in Syria: forever…!! Aren’t you proud of what a faithful friend I have been… 🙂
Those Lebanese… as soon as you turn your back… 😉
April 9th, 2008, 10:45 pm
Alex said:
Thank you Naji.
I hope he learned his lesson.
I will have a talk with his father.
Maybe with his science teacher too.
April 9th, 2008, 11:07 pm
Qifa Nabki said:
Naji,
The regime doesn’t deserve as tireless and true a patriot as Alex.
In fact, probably no government would!
Ma fi mitlo.
(And I’m sure you will agree).
April 10th, 2008, 12:22 am
Enlightened said:
If every Arab was as patriotic as Alex, we wouldn’t be where we are!
So lets start a Alex cloning project! Then QN can say Fi Khtir mitlo!
There you go Alex! Want to donate your DNA?
April 10th, 2008, 1:16 am
Qifa Nabki said:
I’ll bet it shows traces of z-7UMuS/BT71Ni…
😉
April 10th, 2008, 1:27 am
Alex said:
Eh … which Alex? … me?!
Shukran Jazilan to both of you, and Enlightened … your Arabic is getting better .. is it from Syria Comment or is it from your employees?
April 10th, 2008, 1:35 am
Alex said:
QN… please don’t joke about these things … Regime cheerleader and traces of z-7UMuS/BT71Ni … you just made me a double suspect for you know what…
: )
April 10th, 2008, 1:39 am
Enlightened said:
Alex:
A little from each, My friend Ali the Alawi mainly arabic comedy (employee), and from my wife mainly, and picking up bits and pieces from SC.
I am thinking in 2009 in enrolling in a course to learn to read Arabic. I should have listened to my Dad ( God rest him) his words are ringing in my ears, that i will live to regret it, by not learning!
Thanks for the email, il get in contact with him by early next week.
April 10th, 2008, 2:03 am
Naji said:
From http://www.tayyar.org/
كيف اختفى الصدّيق في باريس ولماذا أنتقل مسؤول أمني إلى السعودية
الثبات 10 نيسان 2008
مع اختفاء الشاهد في قضية اغتيال الرئيس رفيق الحريري، يزداد غموض لغز توضيب هذا الشاهد، الذي كان رأس رهان المشروع المعوَّل عليه في قلب المنطقة رأساً على عقب.
وتقول المعلومات التي تجري متابعتها إن “الوزير” الذي تكفل بتركيب المزاعم التي لُقّنت للشاهد محمد زهير الصديق، التقى به قبل يومين من تنفيذ سيناريو الاختفاء، تماماً مثل السيناريو الذي اختفى فيه من بيروت، حيث تم حينها نقله إلى السعودية قبل إنزاله في باريس، ضمن صفقة غير معقّدة رعاها الرئيس الفرنسي السابق جاك شيراك، عبر جهاز أمني فرنسي مايزال مستمراً بعمله السابق، وبرعاية السلطة الفرنسية الحالية.
وبغض النظر عن الجهة التي جرى نقل الصديق إليها، ومن دون شك تحت نظر السلطات الأمنية الفرنسية المولجة بمراقبته، خصوصاً أنه موضوع في “التحفظ”، فإن تطورات هامة سوف تنعكس على الملف بكليّته، إذا تم الأخذ بعين الاعتبار ابتعاد رئيس تيار المستقبل النائب سعد الحريري عن الأنظار منذ 15 شباط. وتردد أن الفترة الممتدة منذ ذلك التاريخ وحتى الآن أمضاها الحريري في السعودية، في وقت بدأ صراع أجنحة ونفوذ بين أنصاره على التحويلات المالية.
المعلومات التي تتابعها أجهزة دولية للوقوف على دقتها، تقوم على ثلاثة عناصر أساسية تتلخص بالآتي:
1- نقل الشاهد محمد زهير الصديق إلى مدينة أبها السعودية، إذا لم تكن تمت تصفيته بعد افتضاح اختفائه من فرنسا، التي لا تتحمل تصفيته على أراضيها، وتسريب أنباء عن لجوئه إلى الإمارات العربية المتحدة، وترداد هذه المعلومات، خصوصاً أن الوزير مروان حمادة كان موجوداً في تلك الفترة في الإمارات، التي توجه إليها تحت غطاء حضور حفل للفنانة هبة قواص يوم الأربعاء الثاني من نيسان، وهو الحفل الذي حضرته أيضاً السيدة نازك الحريري وابنتها هند.
2- إرسال سعد الحريري طائرته إلى رئيس جهاز أمني موالٍ له يوم السبت 5/4/2008، إذ أقلعت الطائرة بالمسؤول المذكورعصر ذلك اليوم مع فريق محدد، متوجهة إلى مدينة أبها.
3- اختفاء الصحافي الذي كان رأس الحربة في ترويج الأنباء والاتهامات منذ لحظة اغتيال الحريري، والذي تم إثراؤه بصورة لافتة، ورصدت له تحويلات لشراء شهود، وتزوير معلومات وتوزيعها على بعض المرتزقة، وإقامة موقع إلكتروني لترويج معلومات، إلا أنه اضطر قبل إبعاده عن الضوء والكتابة، إلى إقفال الموقع المذكور، بالتزامن أيضاً مع اختفاء الصديق، بحجة نضوب التمويل من جهة، والفشل في تأدية المهمة الموكولة للموقع، تماماً مثلما حدث في جهاز تلميع صورة الولايات المتحدة، والذي أدى إلى استقالة رئيسته كارين هيوز قبل إنهاء مهمة الجهاز، بسبب الفشل الذريع.
هذه المعلومات لم يتمكن وزير خارجية فرنسا برنار كوشنير أن يتجاوزها، وإن اعترف باختفاء الصديق، وقال: “كان في منزله وخاضعاً للإقامة الجبرية”.
وإذا كان الاعتراف تزامن تماماً مع مناقشة تقرير رئيس لجنة التحقيق الدولية دانيال بلمار في مجلس الأمن، فإنه يفتح المجال أمام أسئلة خطيرة، منها التواطؤ مع تبليغات كاذبة لا يزال بسببها عشرة أشخاص على الأقل قيد التوقيف الاعتباطي، وبينهم الضباط الأربعة، بسبب شهادة الصديق. وكذلك عدم تعاون فرنسا مع طلب قضائي لبناني سابق، رغم توقيع رئيس الجمهورية العماد إميل لحود على وثيقة يؤكد فيها عدم إصدار حكم إعدام بحق الصديق إن كان متورطاً، والهدف هو الاستماع إليه، ومواجهته مع الضباط الأربعة الموقوفين.
والسؤال الذي يقلق فريق تركيب الذرائع – لكن بدرجة أقل – إذا بانت الحقائق كما يجب، وكذلك المتورطين، هو: من كان يمول إقامة الشاهد “الكذاب” في فرنسا، والتي تكلف باليورو مئات الآلاف؟ ما يفتح الباب أيضاً على كيفية دخول أموال بهذا الحجم إلى شخص لم تتبنَّ لجنة التحقيق الدولية عملية الصرف عليه، كما لم تضعه ضمن دائرة “حماية الشهود”.
ويقول مصدر متابع للملف، إنه يُعوَّل كثيراً على ظهور الحقائق مع التطورات الحاصلة، سيما إذا أخذنا بعين الاعتبار حقيقة الصفقات التي عُرضت على سوريا لـ”قتل المحكمة الدولية” إذا نفذت سوريا ما يريده الأميركيون في لبنان، وهو ما رفضته سوريا؛ الواثقة من البراءة بشدة.
وأوضح مصدر مطلع أن مسألة الضباط الأربعة الموقوفين آن لها أن تحَلّ، في ضوء كلام المحقق بلمار، الذي كرر أن القضاء اللبناني هو المسؤول عن التوقيف والإخلاء، مع الاعتراف بأن لا تُهم موجهة إليهم.
April 10th, 2008, 5:02 pm
why-discuss said:
BRAVO SWITZERLAND!
This seems to be the only in the country on the world who can say NO to the US arrogance. The others, France first, is crawling lower and lower while Kushner seems to live in another planet and repeatedly feels sorry. He and Siniora are the Mater Dolorosa pair, sorry I forgot patriarche sfeir. The Dolorosa sisters!
BRAVO IRAN!
The iranian press is finally learning how to use disinformation to their advantage, a technique mastered by the US media since the WDM hoax. Now we talk..
April 11th, 2008, 12:16 pm
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