The third part of former Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam’s memoirs, published by the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, focused on his relationship with former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and Assad’s stance, including his “bias against Hariri before his assassination.”
Khaddam discussed the Syrian position towards Hariri prior to the assassination, as reflected in a statement made by the former Syrian Foreign Minister Farooq al-Shara during a party meeting in 2004. Al-Shara referred to Hariri as “a conspirator against Syria, connected to the United States of America and France in their conspiracy against Syria.”
This sentiment was echoed by President Bashar Al-Assad himself at a meeting of the Qatari leadership of the Baath Party in mid-January 2005, about a month before Hariri’s assassination. Khaddam quoted Assad as saying, “There is an American-French conspiracy involving Hariri, who is conspiring against us. He is uniting his sect (i.e., Sunnis) around him, which poses a danger to Syria.”
After the meeting, Khaddam questioned Assad about the regime’s fixation on targeting France, the United States, and Hariri. He asked if Assad realized the gravity of the situation regarding the leaked conversation and the implications of considering the unification of the Sunni community as a threat to Syria.
Khaddam further inquired, “Doesn’t the unification of the Shiite community around Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of Hezbollah, and the Maronites around Suleiman Franjieh pose any danger?” He reminded Assad that Syria has a Sunni majority, but Assad responded by claiming there was a conspiracy.
According to Khaddam’s notes, he advised Hariri, through an intermediary, to leave Lebanon immediately due to the intense animosity against him.
A few days before Hariri’s assassination, Khaddam visited him at his home and conveyed Assad’s clear message. Khaddam warned Hariri that being accused of conspiracy was a capital offense, and urged him to leave Beirut that day to safeguard his life.
Hariri showed Khaddam a letter sent to him by Maher Al-Assad, Bashar’s brother, expressing love and assistance, and inviting Hariri to visit Damascus. Hariri questioned why such a message was sent if they intended to kill him.
Khaddam replied that the letter was a ploy to keep Hariri in Lebanon until they carried out the assassination.
Hariri was assassinated on February 14, 2005, when approximately one ton of TNT exploded near his convoy close to the “Saint George” hotel in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
In response, the United Nations established the International Tribunal for Lebanon, which in August 2008 convicted Salim Ayyash, a suspected member of Hezbollah, for his involvement in the assassination.
