Thursday, 17 February 2005The family of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has called for an international commission to investigate his killing.
Earlier in the week, the Lebanese government ruled out international involvement but on Wednesday it agreed to the assistance of foreign experts.
The family's statement came a day after more than 200,000 mourners attended the funeral of Mr Hariri and 14 others.
Many blame Monday's huge bomb attack in Beirut on Syria - a charge it denies.
The family urged the "international community to promptly take control of this issue and form an international investigation commission".
A similar demand has already been voiced by the French and US governments.
Beirut's military judiciary said on Wednesday that Swiss experts on DNA testing and explosives would be brought in to conduct tests.
The Lebanese government had previously said there would be no need for an international investigation into the killing.
Assassination fears
But Mr Hariri's family said international involvement was needed "since the assassination of Rafik Hariri is a terrorist act targeting Lebanon's stability and national unity".
The statement went on to say that the family would "not spare any effort or means" to find the perpetrators of the attack irrespective of their affiliation.
Syria is under growing pressure over the bomb attack, although no evidence has been produced of Damascus' involvement.
Mr Hariri, who was credited with reviving Lebanon's economy after 15 years of civil war, wanted Syria's 14,000-odd troops to leave the country.
A close ally of Mr Hariri, Druze opposition leader Walid Jumblatt, was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying they had recently been advised to be on their guard.
"Rafik Hariri told me two weeks ago: 'They might derail everything [by] either getting you or me.' Well, they started with him," he told French radio.
Mr Hariri was buried amid chaotic scenes in Beirut on Wednesday.
Crowds, numbering into the hundreds of thousands, converged on the city's Muhammad Amin Mosque for the funeral service and visiting international dignitaries offered their condolences to Hariri's family.
The BBC's Kim Ghattas in Beirut said Christians, Muslims and Druze alike were grieving for the death of the Sunni Muslim billionaire, who symbolised the revival of Lebanon after the civil war. |
Thursday, 17 February 2005
BBC News
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