Beirut
Suspects flew to Australia
From correspondents in Beirut
February 18, 2005
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1274&storyid=2687552
LEBANON is hunting six people who flew from Beirut for Australia, leaving traces of explosives on aircraft seats, hours after a powerful bomb killed former prime minister Rafiq Hariri.

"Six people left for Australia from Beirut airport a few hours after the attack and traces of TNT powder were recovered from the seats used by some of them," Justice Minister Adnan Addum said.
"These people have links with fundamentalist circles. I can't say more because of the demands of the investigation," he added.
One hitherto unknown Islamist group claimed it carried out Monday's bombing, saying it was in revenge for Mr Hariri's links with Saudi Arabia where security forces have killed members of extremist groups. It gave no proof of its involvement.

Lebanese officials have said the attack was probably carried out by a suicide bomber but some have speculated that, given the widespread damage and force of the blast, the explosives could have been planted under the road before Hariri's convoy passed.

Lebanon has called in Swiss experts and DNA experts to help with the inquiry.
Meanwhile in Beirut, banks and shops reopened for business after a three-day mourning period for Mr Hariri, whose murder in a massive bomb blast in Beirut on Monday sent shockwaves through the country and added to tensions with its political masters in Syria.

Lebanon's anti-Damascus Opposition was to hold a meeting today to try to rally a mass public mobilisation after the killing of the man behind the country's post-war revival, while Syrian-backed President Emile Lahoud was to hold a Cabinet meeting.

"The regime... should take the political initiative of opening up to the opposition by declaring its readiness to meet its demand in forming a special government to run and supervise the legislative elections (due in May)," former prime minister Salim Hoss said.

US President George W. Bush, whose administration recalled its ambassador in Damascus over the killing, heightened warnings to Syria and joined the Hariri family in calling for an international investigation.

Justice Minister Prosecutor Adnan Addum said the authorities were on the trail of six suspects who flew from Beirut for Australia hours after Hariri's assassination, leaving traces of explosives on aircraft seats.

The Ad Diyar newspaper, among others, called on the government to take steps to the "atmosphere of dangerous divisions" engulfing the country, including the resignation of Lahoud and the Government of pro-Syrian Prime Minister Omar Karameh.
"This Government cannot go on, prime minister Karameh is mistaken if he does not resign...this is a national duty," said Ad Diyar.
"As for President Lahoud who has previously called for a national conference, it is clear that his political role is finished because he is incapable of bringing together the loyalists and the opposition in order to achieve national reconciliation," it said.

The Ash-Sharq daily "it is absolutely not shameful for the regime to take the decision to leave power in line with the desires of the citizens."
"There is no other solution but the departure of the regime so that a new regime capable of dealing with the difficult situation in the country could be elected."
Leading Druze opposition figure Walid Jumblatt delivered a virulent attack on the regime, pledging that "the day will come when we will sweep away the dirt of this criminal, collaborating regime, a regime of terrorism."

Mr Jumblatt also called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to re-examine Lebanese-Syrian relations "not out of fear, but in the interests of both countries".
"We are ready for dialogue, putting behind us our wounds and the blood of Rafiq Hariri," he said.
The Lebanese Opposition widely blame their Government and the regime in Syria for the murder of Mr Hariri, their five-times prime minister who quit in October in a row with Lahoud over the role of Damascus.

Lebanese officials say the attack was probably carried out by a suicide bomber but some have speculated that, given the widespread damage and force of the blast, the explosives could have been planted under the road before the Hariri convoy passed.

Thousands of protestors took part in a demonstration at the site of the bombing late yesterday, shouting "Syria out" and circulationg a petition demanding for the resignation of the Karameh Government.

Fiften people were killed and about 100 more wounded in the bomb blast that ripped through the Hariri motorcade on Beirut's seafront on Monday, causing the worst carnage seen in Beirut since the 1975-1990 civil war.

Frenzied crowds of mourners had thronged the streets of Beirut for Hariri's funeral on Wednesday, a sombre event that quickly developed into an anti-Syrian rally with the capital resounding with chants of "Syria Out".
Despite the ban on government officals at the funeral, Mr Lahoud paid his condolences to the Hariri family today as thousands of mourners continued to flock to Mr Hariri's grave and his home for the fifth consecutive day.

Amid fears of uncertainty on the first day of business since the assassination on Friday, the Central Bank of Lebanon vowed to maintain the stability of the Lebanese pound and of discount rates while pledging to ensure liquidity.
Bank president Joseph Torbey said he did not expect a rush to sell the pound.
with Reuters
Reuters