Abdul-Halim Khaddam repeated his accusation against the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the murder of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, affirming that no one else but Assad had an interest in killing Hariri.
Beirut: Abdul-Halim Khaddam, the former vice president of Syria, expressed his firm conviction that Bashar al-Assad is the murderer of the late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, stating: No security entity can undertake such an act without resorting to President Bashar’s opinion, and no one else has an interest in killing Hariri but Assad.
He added in a press statement: A week before the killing of Hariri, there was a leadership meeting to discuss an internal organizational issue unrelated to foreign policy. Suddenly, Bashar al-Assad said that Hariri was conspiring against us, along with Chirac and America, and Hariri is our archenemy. The leadership was astonished by this statement, and I asked him at the time why this talk now and what is the benefit of it? He did not answer and remained silent.
Khaddam continued to narrate the events that occurred after that meeting, saying: The next day, I sent a message to Hariri through Mohsen Dalloul, telling him to pack his things and leave Lebanon, and two days later, my friend MP Marwan Hamadeh survived an assassination attempt. I visited him in the hospital and then went to Rafik Hariri’s house, where I had lunch with him.
Khaddam told Okaz newspaper: We talked a lot, and Abu Bahaa asked me about the content of the message I sent to him. I told him you must leave Lebanon tomorrow morning because they will kill you. He replied, “But Maher called me and said you are our friend, close to us.” I replied, “Let them do that to give you security and reassure you.” He did not heed my words and believed their words, and on the third day, he was assassinated.
Khaddam said that Hariri received many warnings and threats during his visits to Bashar, facing threats from the head of intelligence, Rustom Ghazali, who had absolute freedom in Lebanon. He told him that he would eliminate anyone who dared to defy his authority. In every meeting with him, Hariri came out tense, and when he received a call from Colonel Maher al-Assad to reassure him as a friend, Hariri certainly believed them and felt secure.