He said "We knew for a long time who killed Kamal Jumblatt. And today I am going to disclose in a responsible manner the name of the killer. It is a Syrian Leader, and I am sure, the killing took place without the knowledge of Hafez Al Assad and this information is clear and very well known. Dr. Rifaat Al Assad is behind the murder of Jumblatt."

Rifaat is the, brother of the former president Hafez Al Assad and the uncle of Syrian president Bashar Al Assad.

This is the first time the killer of Jumblatt was officially named. No one, during the Syrian occupation could ever dare utter such information

During that period that Kumblatt was was assinated (1977), Hawi said "Rifaat held a very influential position in the Syrian government".

Went on to say: "In Lebanon, assassinations were never executed by one party without the knowledge of others, but these parties took turns. One day one covers up and the other executes and visa versa. We failed to find at the time a safe haven for Kamal Jumblatt, not even in Cairo, Egypt". Jumblatt opposed the Syrian occupation and many feared he will be targeted by the Syrians.

Hawi was also asked who was behind Syria's presence in Lebanon. He said: "The United States was not the only country that approved of Syria's invasion of Lebanon, Israel too. King Hussein of Jordan, met with the former Israeli PM Menahem Begin at the Israeli embassy in London and obtained Israeli approval. The King directly informed Hafez Al Assad of Israeli decision as a guarantee, that Israel will not attack Syria once Syria invades Lebanon".

The question is: Was Hawi assassinated because, after Samir Kassir's assassination he did declare that he knew who killed Kamal Jumblatt? We will leave the answers to the UN investigation team. It is high time we all know who is behind all these murders. There was a banner during last nights vigil at the murder scene that said: "who is next Syria?"

Hawi was assassinated on June 21 in Beirut. The opposition accused Syria and the Lebanese national security, but Syria denied.

Sources: Al Safir Neswpaper, AlJazeera, Ya Libnan