[JURIST] Lebanese prosecutors have charged two men in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive], sources reported Wednesday. The two men, brothers Ahmad and Mahmoud Abdel-Al, were both named last week by a report [text; JURIST report] by a UN commission investigating the killing as being allegedly involved in the bomb plot. Ahmad Abdel-Al is a member of the pro-Syrian Ahbash group [Wikipedia backgrounder], whose spokesman strongly denied the charges. According to the UN report, Mahmoud Abdel-Al reportedly called the cell phone of Lebanon President Emile Lahoud [official website] shortly before the bombing in Beirut. The additional charges bring to 11 the number of people charged by prosecutors in connection with Hariri's murder. Top Syrian officials and pro-Syrian officials in Lebanon have been named in the UN report as well. Aljazeera has more.
Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase…
- US, France threaten economic sanctions against Syria over Hariri probe
- Syria refutes allegations of involvement in Hariri murder
- Syrian lawyers challenge UN report on Hariri assassination
- Lebanon arrests man named in Hariri killing probe
- Former Lebanese PM's son calls for international trial of assassins
- US calls for urgent UN meeting on Hariri assassination report
- UN Hariri assassination report implicates Syria, Lebanon