Investigator Says He’s Sure Syria Killed Hariri

The chief U.N. investigator into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said in remarks published Saturday that he believed Syrian authorities were behind the killing.

It was the first time that Detlev Mehlis had unequivocally accused Syria of responsibility for Hariri’s assassination since opening the U.N. inquiry in June.

Asked by the London-based Saudi newspaper Asharq al Awsat whether he was firmly convinced that Syria was behind the killing, Mehlis replied, “Yes.”

Asked whether he was directly accusing the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Mehlis said, “Let’s say the Syrian authorities.” He declined to elaborate.

Syria has denied involvement.

Mehlis also said he saw a link between last week’s assassination of anti-Syria journalist and lawmaker Gibran Tueni and a string of bombings that had rocked Lebanon since Hariri’s assassination in February.

In a new report last week, Mehlis said fresh evidence had strengthened his belief that the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services had a hand in the Feb. 14 bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others in Beirut. The report said there were 19 suspects so far, including six high-ranking Syrian officials.

Hariri’s assassination set off anti-Syria street protests in Lebanon and international pressure that forced Damascus to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, ending nearly three decades of military domination.