Israel Matzav

The results of intimidation

At this point, I suppose this was inevitable.

Lebanese Prime Minister Sa'ad Hariri said Monday that it was a mistake to accuse Syria of being behind the 2005 assassination of his father.

The statement was a major turnaround for Hariri, who for years has blamed Damascus for his father's death in a massive truck bombing in Beirut.

...

Hariri told the Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq al-Awsat in an interview published Monday that "during a period of time we accused Syria of being behind the assassination ... This was a political accusation, and this political accusation has ended."

Hariri's comments came a week after UN prosecutor Daniel Bellemare said that there would be no rush to indict suspects in the international probe into the killing of the former Lebanese prime minister.

"Let me state clearly that the indictment has not been drafted yet," Bellemare was quoted as saying by the website NOW Lebanon. "I will only file the indictment when I am satisfied there is enough evidence."

If George Bush or John McCain were President, I doubt you would have heard Hariri make a milquetoast statement like this.

What could go wrong?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:11 AM