Lebanon’s Justice Minister Adel Nasser has appointed a number of judicial investigators to probe political assassinations that have taken place in the country over the decades.
Justice in the cases had not taken its course due to political and security obstacles, as well as the former Syrian regime’s hegemony over Lebanon.
With the ouster of the regime in December and the ensuing changes that have taken place in Lebanon, the judiciary has been “liberated” from political meddling that had impeded efforts to uncover the perpetrators, who had taken the decision to carry out these crimes, who planned them, carried them out and concealed evidence.
Ultimately, there are hopes that uncovering the truth in these crimes would end the state of impunity that has prevailed in Lebanon for decades.
Nassar ordered the appointment of judicial investigators in the assassinations of Sheikh Ahmed Assaf in 1982, former minister Elie Hobeika in 2002, MP Antoine Ghanem in 2007, journalist Samir Kassir in 2005, MP and journalist Gebran Tueni in 2005 and the murder of Sheikh Saleh al-Aridi in Baysour in 2008.
He also appointed judicial investigators in the attempted assassination of former President Camille Chamoun, the attempted assassination of former MP Mustafa Maarouf Saad, the attack on the town of Ehden in 1978 that led to the murder MP Tony Franjieh and his family and the clashes in the area of Bourday in Baalbek.
A judicial source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the appointment of the investigators took place after consultations between Nassar and the Higher Judicial Council.
More investigators will be appointed in other assassination cases, including that of Grand Mufti Sheikh Hassan Khaled in 1989, President Rene Moawad in 1989, MP Walid Eido in 2007 and Mohammed Chatah in 2013.
The source stressed the importance of the investigations resulting in judicial decisions no matter how long the investigations take because justice needs to prevail.
A source following up on the issue revealed that the appointments also took place after Nassar met with a Syrian judicial committee that had recently visited Beirut. The minister had requested that Syria provide Lebanese authorities with information about the political assassinations.
The source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Syrian officials were receptive of the request, pledging to provide any information, evidence and documents they may find in the presidential palaces and security headquarters that were used by the ousted regime.
The Lebanese officials at the talks had provided the Syrian committee with documented information about the involvement of Syrians in the assassinations and bombings that had taken place in Lebanon, notably the bombings of the al-Salam and Taqwa mosques in the northern city of Tripoli in 2013.
The bombings were planned by Syrian intelligence officers in cooperation with members of the Arab Democratic Party, led by Rifaar Eid, who had fled to Syria after the attack.
The officials also brought up the case of the failed bombings in Lebanon that were planned by Ali Mamlouk, former head of Syria's National Security Bureau and close associate of ousted President Bashar al-Assad. He had plotted the attack with Lebanese former minister Michel Samaha, who had smuggled 25 explosives from Damascus to Lebanon in 2012. They planned to detonate them during iftar dinners and to target MPs and religious figures in Tripoli and the northern Akkar region.
Moreover, the Lebanese officials had requested from Syria help in the arrest of Lebanese Habib al-Shartouni who assassinated President Bachir Gemayel in 1982 and who is in Syria.
