The Syrian Vice President Asked the Lebanese Prime Minister to Leave… He Said, “I Have Elections,” and Khaddam Replied, “Your Life Is More Important.”
The late Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam says in his memoirs that after former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri declined to form a government and left Lebanon, a political and media campaign was launched against him by allies of the Syrian regime, as well as by the Syrian and Lebanese security services. “The more intense the campaign became, the more popular Hariri grew, and the closer he became to Walid Jumblatt and the Christian parties represented in the Qurnet Shehwan Gathering. The man was accused of conspiring with the Americans and with Israel. One of the important events that took place in early October 2004 was the attempted assassination of Lebanese politician Marwan Hamadeh, an ally of Walid Jumblatt. It was a warning directed at all opponents of President Émile Lahoud in Lebanon.”
The day after the assassination attempt, Khaddam called Brigadier General Rustum Ghazaleh and told him that he was coming to Beirut to visit Marwan Hamadeh.
Khaddam adds: “He apologized, telling me that he was in his village in Hauran. I then called Walid Jumblatt’s office in Damascus and asked them to inform Walid Bey of the time of my arrival at the American University Hospital in Beirut. When I arrived at the appointed time, Mr. Walid received me, and we entered the hospital. It was impossible to see Marwan Hamadeh because he was in the operating room. Present alongside Walid Jumblatt were senior members of the Progressive Socialist Party, as well as Mr. Gebran Tueni, Marwan Hamadeh’s nephew. I expressed to them my deep regret over what had happened to my friend Marwan Hamadeh, with whom I had a close friendship.”
A Verbal Message from Khaddam to Hariri
According to his memoirs, after President Rafik Hariri declined to form his government, Khaddam stopped discussing Lebanon. “I confined myself to following developments through the information I received or through the media. Bashar al-Assad was mishandling the situation in Lebanon.”
He continues: “In mid-January 2005, we had a meeting of the Regional Command at the Presidential Palace, and the agenda concerned organizational matters within the party. The President [Bashar al-Assad] told us: ‘There is an American-French conspiracy against Syria, and Rafik Hariri is involved in it.’
“I was surprised, as were the other members of the leadership, by this serious statement. Two days later, former Lebanese Defense Minister Mohsen Dalloul visited me, and I entrusted him with a verbal message for Prime Minister Hariri. The message was that his situation was complicated and that I advised him to leave Lebanon immediately.”
Maher al-Assad Attempts to Mediate
On February 8, 2005, Khaddam went to Lebanon for medical examinations at the American University Hospital, then went to Rafik Hariri’s home at his invitation for lunch.
“The man was worried and asked me about the message that Mohsen Dalloul had conveyed to him. I explained the situation to him and advised him to leave immediately.
“He replied: ‘I have elections… How can I leave the people and go?’
“I answered: ‘Your life is more important than the people, and your family is more important than the elections.’
“He asked me about Maher al-Assad’s role in what was happening.
“I replied: ‘He has no political role. He is subordinate to his brother, so why are you asking?’”
AFP
Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and former Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam before their meeting in Beirut on June 4, 2001.
He replied: “Aouni al-Kaaki, the owner of Al-Sharq newspaper, sent someone to me to tell me that Maher al-Assad was keen to establish relations with me and was prepared to resolve the problems existing between me [Hariri] and Bashar al-Assad. He considered me a loyal friend of Syria.”
I commented on the message: “In my view, you should be careful and leave Lebanon.”
I asked him about the way the Lebanese security services were dealing with him.
He said: “I had fifty security guards, but they withdrew them and left me with only six.”
The Killing of Rafik Hariri
Contact between Khaddam and Bashar al-Assad had been cut off since late October 2004. “Communications took place through his chief of staff, Muhammad Daaboul (Abu Salim), and sometimes through written messages.”
Khaddam continues: “On the day of the assassination of President Rafik Hariri, February 14, 2005, we were in a meeting of the Regional Command in Damascus. Afterwards, I went into Dr. Ahmad Dirgham’s office, where the television was on. The breaking news came as a shock: a massive explosion had occurred in Beirut near the British Bank.
“It was subsequently reported that the explosion had targeted the convoy of President Rafik Hariri and that he had been killed along with his bodyguards and a number of Lebanese citizens.
“I returned home, and there was deep grief among all members of my family. I called Abu Salim Daaboul (Muhammad Daaboul, Assad’s chief of staff) and asked him to inform the President that I would be leaving for Beirut the following day to offer my condolences to the family of the late Rafik Hariri.
“Minutes later, Abu Salim told me: ‘If you want to go, go in your personal capacity, because the President has already offered his condolences to President Lahoud.’
“I told him: ‘It never occurred to me to go in any capacity other than my personal one.’
“Abu Salim asked me: ‘Will you make a statement to the press?’
“I replied that I would not. I then called the Hariri family home and spoke with his son Saad, offering my condolences and informing him that I would be coming to Beirut the following day.”
AFP
The destruction left by the explosion at the site of Rafik Hariri’s assassination, Beirut, February 14, 2005.
AFP
Bashar al-Assad throws sand onto the coffin of his father, Hafez al-Assad, with Abdel Halim Khaddam beside him.
