Ya Libnan

Ex MP Khoury testified to STL about Syria’s threats prior to Hariri’s’ murder

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Ghattas KhouryFormer MP and minister Dr. Ghattas Khoury appeared in The Hague as a witness on Thursday before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to testify on the period that preceded and followed the extension of the term of former Lebanese President Emile Lahoud.

Khoury, who was an advisor to the slain Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and who opposed Lahoud’s term extension , spoke of how the Syrian regime influenced political life in Lebanon and how Syria undermined the Lebanese constitution in 2004 in order to extend Lahoud’s term in office.

He also told the court about the threats on his life by the Syrian regime.
“Your husband is on the road to get to Diman. Tell him to go home in a coffin. »
This is one of several telephone threats made by an agent of the Syrian regime to his wife.

Mr. Khoury described to the court the tense security climate that prevailed before the February 14 assassination of Hariri .

He also briefed the court about the last meeting Hariri had with Bashar al Assad prior to the extension of Lahoud’s term in which the Syrian president threatened to destroy Lebanon if Lahoud’s’ term was no extended :

“I will destroy Lebanon over your head and Jumblatt’s head if Lahoud’s term not extended “, Assad told Hariri according to Khoury

Progressive Socialist party leader Walid Jumblatt strongly opposed Lahoud’s term extension and his parliamentary bloc was one of the very few that voted against it in the parliament.

For several hours, he recounted the intimidation practiced by the Damascus regime toward the Lebanese officials, citing the hegemony the Syrian regime de facto exercised over Lebanese institutions .

Hariri’s relationship with the the Syrian regime and its Lebanese allies continues to be a key concern for STL , as prosecutors seek to find a political motive for the former leader’s assassination.

Five Hezbollah members accused of complicity in the attack are being tried in absentia at The Hague-based court.

Khoury’s testimony is part of a broader arc of the trial examining tensions between Hariri and the Syrian leadership and its allies in Lebanon.

The STL has been hearing the testimonies of a number of witnesses who were close to Hariri in the months preceding the assassination.

MP Marwan Hamadeh gave his testimony in late 2014 and journalist Faisal Salman gave his testimony at the resumption of the hearings in 2015.

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3 responses to “Ex MP Khoury testified to STL about Syria’s threats prior to Hariri’s’ murder”

  1. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    In trying to divert attention away from the testimonies being delivered in a proper court-room where ‘free speech’ is encouraged (which they could not do IN Lebanon), Nastyrallah has now been directed to bump up the rhetoric against Israel and proclaim the line of ‘vast big weapons’ of resistance more often.
    ASSad, meanwhile, tries to convince everyone that they should have listened to him all along. These ‘problems’ of terrorist groups would not exist if only we had all acted hand-in-hand with him … he says.
    The STL is important. A ‘tribunal’ to nail down an accurate history, at very least.
    IF, in the end, ‘the people’ can actually wrap their heads around their own need to be recognizing the ‘concept’ of that megalomaniac-run-form of governing, which only works for them if they become as corrupt as ‘the boss’, and which always forces ‘the people’ to be ‘in it’ with them, there may occur at some point in future a ‘country’ of ‘Lebanon’ which is not merely a collection of ‘fiefs’ paying forever with blood and money to ‘the tops’ run by the megalomaniac. Some kind of democratic thought may eventually rise from the ashes, and the blown-up concrete dust the neighbours seem to enjoy.
    DO ‘the people’ really wish to always be under the feet of an ASSad, or any Caliph, or any Religious Despot, who manages to ‘power’ his way to ‘the top’ of the sand-heap with never-ending threats on life?
    THAT is the question.
    As the article on the theoretical ‘electricity’ points out, and as Faour’s pogrom on bad supply has also shown, life for ALL in Lebanon is already severely threatened by the inability to maintain any infrastructure for a society of humans …. which can’t even have maintain jobs or support for it’s own people.

    1. arzatna1 Avatar
      arzatna1

      The video tape is interesting to watch.
      Now we really know why he was killed
      Assad is a ruthless person . He was willing to destroy Lebanon just to make sure his buddy Lahoud gets another 3 years … Now Assad is destroying Syria in order to stay in power .
      On the other hand the tape also shows how much Hariri loved and cared for Lebanon and how much he tried to protect it from the evil of Assad and alikes

      1. 5thDrawer Avatar
        5thDrawer

        There really WERE some Lebanese.

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