Chief investigator seeks more time to probe criminal network behind Lebanese PM assassination

The chief investigator probing the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister asked for more time to determine all the members of the terrorist network that killed Rafik Hariri and is responsible for other terrorist attacks.

Daniel Bellemare said Tuesday that he has evidence of the network and its links to some other attacks but he asked the U.N. Security Council to extend the investigation for six months because there is still work to do to put together all the pieces of what he called "a big puzzle."

"I cannot tell you next year at this time, or in six months, or in three months I will have results," he told a news conference. "I can tell you though that we'll use every possible effort and we will expedite the process as it is humanly possible."

South Africa's U.N. Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, the current council president, said council members "were very happy not to press him on that because we leave that to him."

Bellemare, a former Canadian prosecutor who took over as chief investigator in January from Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz, said he gave up a brief retirement "because I felt that I could make a difference." He will maintain investigative powers when he becomes chief prosecutor of the international tribunal that will seek to bring those responsible for the February 2005 suicide truck bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others to justice.

When the tribunal becomes operational is up to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who will take into account its finances, his consultations, and the progress of the investigation, Bellemare said.

He dismissed some media reports that indictments are imminent.

"As prosecutor designate of the tribunal, I will only state that the filing of eventual indictments will not be immediate after the establishment of the tribunal," he told the council. "The admissible evidence will have to be carefully and objectively considered in light of the applicable prosecution threshold."

In his first report to the council on March 28, Bellemare said investigators have evidence that Hariri was assassinated by a "criminal network" linked to some other terrorist attacks in Lebanon.

Eleven attacks have targeted politicians, journalists and security officials; nine involve bombings in public places. A total of 61 people were killed in the attacks and at least 494 injured.

Bellemare reiterated several times that "criminal network" has "to be used interchangeably with the word terrorist."

He refused to give any details of the extent, nature or members of the network that assassinated Hariri _ or the other terrorist attacks linked to the network, telling reporters "those who are being investigated are probably watching as we speak."

When will any names be released?

"The names that will be published will be the names that will be contained in an indictment, and an indictment that will be supported by strong evidence," he said.

Bellemare said he was following Brammertz "in terms of investigating crimes that are politically motivated."

Brammertz said last July that investigators believe the September 2004 Security Council resolution aimed at blocking Lebanon's pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud from a second term "played an important role in shaping the environment in which the motives to assassinate Rafik Hariri emerged."

Bellemare reiterated Tuesday that the top priority of the investigative commission now is to gather more evidence about the "Hariri Network," including its scope, the identity of all its participants, their roles in other attacks, and links with people outside the network.

Four pro-Syrian Lebanese generals have been under arrest for almost two years for alleged involvement in Hariri's murder. Syria denies any involvement in Hariri's assassination, but the furor over the attack forced Syrian troops to withdraw from Lebanon after a 29-year presence.

Bellemare was asked by Russia Tuesday about the generals' continued detention without charges. He replied that their detention is the result of a decision by Lebanese judicial authorities, "pursuant to Lebanese criminal law."

The chief investigator was also peppered with questions about French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner's confirmation earlier Tuesday that Mohammed Zuhair Siddiq, a Syrian reputed to be a key witness in the Hariri assassination, had disappeared while under house arrest in France.

Bellemare said Siddiq had been interviewed by the commission but never replied to an offer to enter its witness protection program.

"I don't know where he is," Bellemare said. "As far as (what) the impact of his disappearance is, this will have to be assessed."