Suicide bomber blamed for Hariri's death

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanese investigators have concluded that former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was killed by a suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden truck, according to two security officials familiar with the probe.

The Feb. 14 explosion was so powerful that much of the small truck disintegrated, but some pieces were blown into the Mediterranean Sea, the officials told Newsday on the condition of anonymity. Divers were sent into the water and recovered some of the wreckage, but experts are still trying to trace the vehicle, the officials said.

"There is physical evidence which was recovered from the sea," said one of the officials without elaborating. Hariri's armored motorcade was destroyed by the explosion as it passed through Beirut's seaside hotel district.

Doubts and theories

Many in the Lebanese opposition reject the suicide bomber explanation and insist that the bomb, which killed Hariri and 17 others, was planted underground. They argue such an operation would require greater planning and the knowledge of the country's security services. The opposition quickly blamed the assassination on Syria and its allies in the Lebanese government, but officials in Damascus and Beirut have denied any involvement.

Both sides are awaiting a preliminary report on the bombing due to be released today by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The report, which was prepared by a UN fact-finding team dispatched by Annan last month, is expected to criticize Lebanese security agencies for negligence in their investigation. The report is likely to focus on mistakes such as a decision by Lebanese officials to remove the wreckage of Hariri's motorcade from the scene hours after the bombing, which made it harder to investigate the blast.

Even if the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber, opposition leaders say they would still blame Syrian and Lebanese intelligence as complicit. There is a long history of intelligence agencies in the Middle East using front groups to carry out political assassinations.

By most accounts, the investigation into Hariri's killing has been stalled. Nearly six weeks after the bombing, Lebanese officials still have not released a preliminary report to explain what caused the blast and what kind of explosives were used. As a result, the country is rife with conspiracy theories. The most popular one is that explosives were laid under the street days before the bombing.

The Lebanese security officials told Newsday there was no evidence of an underground bomb. They refused, however, to describe the type and amount of explosives used. The officials said a security camera from a nearby bank captured footage of a bomb-laden truck approaching Hariri's convoy but the tape does not show the vehicle exploding.

Pressure on Syria

Hariri's assassination plunged Lebanon into its worst crisis since 1990, when a 15-year civil war ended. Under mounting international pressure, Syria agreed to withdraw its 14,000 troops and hundreds of intelligence operatives from Lebanon before parliamentary elections are held in May. It is unclear if Syria will ultimately heed calls to stop interfering in Lebanon's internal politics.

The Lebanese opposition scored its biggest victory Feb. 28, when popular protests forced the Syrian-backed Lebanese prime minister and his cabinet to resign. But 10 days later, Omar Karami was reappointed as premier and charged with forming a new cabinet.

Opposition leaders have refused to join the new government, partly because Karami and the Syrian-backed Lebanese president, Emile Lahoud, are resisting demands for a broader international investigation into Hariri's killing. Lebanon has a history of not tracking down those responsible for political killings. Opposition leaders hope today's UN report will highlight enough problems in the Lebanese probe to step up pressure for a foreign-led inquiry.

Annan hinted yesterday an international investigation was almost inevitable. "We are going to look at their report," he said of the UN fact-finding team. "But often in these cases you are going to want a broader investigation, more than the fact-finding team."

The only claim of responsibility came the day of Hariri's killing from a previously unknown Islamic militant group calling itself the "Victory and Holy War Organization in the Levant." The group, which took responsibility in a videotape broadcast on the Al-Jazeera satellite station, said it was retaliating for killings of Islamic militants in Saudi Arabia. A young, bearded man wearing a white turban read a statement, saying he would be carrying out a suicide attack against Hariri, whom he called an "agent of the tyrannical Saudi regime."

Hariri amassed a fortune in Saudi Arabia, where he lived for two decades and handled major construction projects for the ruling House of Saud. He held both Lebanese and Saudi citizenship. In 2003, Forbes magazine estimated his worth at $3.8 billion.

If Hariri was killed by a militant group, it would mark a dramatic shift for Islamists who are trying to topple the Saudi regime. So far, offshoots of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network have not targeted Saudi supporters and economic interests outside the kingdom.

Eye on Hariri

On the night of Hariri's killing, Lebanese officials identified the man on the tape as Ahmed Abu Adas, 22, a Palestinian born in Lebanon to refugee parents. Officials raided Abu Adas' apartment in Beirut, but did not find anyone. Since then, many Lebanese wonder why security agencies have not carried out other raids or issued warrants for suspects who would have assisted Abu Adas if he was the suicide bomber.

Hariri varied his routes, and his convoy included radio-jamming equipment intended to thwart remote-controlled bombs. The Lebanese officials who spoke to Newsday acknowledged the assassination required a sophisticated network to monitor Hariri's movements and to direct the bomber to the scene. But there have been few breakthroughs in that part of the investigation. The UN report is expected to focus on that shortcoming.