Lebanese soldiers deploy at the highway leading to the Montiverdy hotel, the location, where Chief U.N. investigator Detliv Mehlis questioned three former Lebanese security chiefs arrested on Tuesday (AP)
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) – A former Lebanese lawmaker questioned in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was released early Wednesday while investigators are expected to keep interrogating four detained pro-Syrian generals over the slaying.
Lebanese forensic experts leading the probe also visited two Beirut residential apartments on Wednesday possibly used by those who planned the massive Feb. 14 bombing that killed Hariri and 20 others, said a security official who declined to be identified further because of the sensitivity of the case.
Legislator Nasser Qandil, a staunch defender of Syria”s influence in Lebanon who surrendered Tuesday at the request of U.N. investigators probing the killing, was released at 1:30 a.m but refused to comment on the probe.
"I don”t want to talk about this issue," Qandil told The Associated Press. "The information I gave the investigators belongs to the probe."
The detentions were the first major break in the crime that transformed Lebanon after decades of Syrian control. It also followed the United Nations” naming of Qandil and four pro-Syrian generals,
including a close ally of Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, as suspects in Hariri”s killing.
In France, Lebanese anti-Syrian Druse leader Walid Jumblatt met Hariri”s son, influential legislator Saad Hariri, for talks attended by the press, during which Jumblatt reportedly said "President Emile Lahoud is finished and we must begin searching for a new president."
Jumblatt”s comments were published in Wednesday”s edition of leading Lebanese newspaper As-Safir.
The Lebanese government, acting at the request of the international body, detained for questioning Tuesday three former pro-Syrian Lebanese generals: Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed, former chief of the powerful General Security department; Maj. Gen. Ali Hajj, former police chief, and Brig. Gen. Raymond Azar, former head of military intelligence.
The three stepped down in April as anti-Syrian groups accused them of negligence in the Hariri murder probe.
A fourth, Presidential Guards Brigade commander Brig. Gen. Mustafa Hamdan, surrendered for interrogation. Hamdan provides security for and is an associate of Lahoud, a bitter political foe of Hariri.
The generals spent the night in individual rooms at an eastern Beirut police headquarters, another senior Lebanese security official said Wednesday on condition of anonymity as he was unauthorized to speak to the media.
U.N. chief investigator Detlev Mehlis sent the generals” files to Lebanese investigating magistrate Elias Eid, who is expected to interrogate them Wednesday, said the official. Eid will later decide either to release them, free them on bail, or issue arrest warrants. It was unclear if Eid will also quiz Qandil, who was in Syria when police first went to his Beirut house Tuesday, later returned by car and was escorted by two police vehicles from the Lebanese border to the capital.
After his release, the former legislator refused to give details about his interrogation, saying he wanted to let the U.N. commission arrive at the truth in the Hariri assassination.
"I will only say that the cheap political and media exploitation is being done by some Lebanese parties and the (U.N.) commission has nothing to do with it," said Qandil, apparently referring to anti-Syrian groups who hailed the detention of the former security chiefs for questioning in Hariri”s killing.
Three other officers and Hamdan”s brother, who were also detained for questioning Tuesday, were released at dawn Wednesday, court officials said on condition of anonymity as they were unauthorized to speak to the press.
Police learned about the two Beirut apartments during Tuesday”s questioning with the former generals and Qandil, but it was unclear who provided the information nor where the apartments were.
The apartments may have been used in the planning of Hariri”s killing and that police were searching for DNA samples at the site, the official added without elaborating. Another team of investigators will inspect two cars linked to the bombing, he added.
Hariri”s death sparked mass protests that led to the April withdrawal of thousands of Syrian forces from Lebanon and the ouster of Lebanon”s pro-Syrian government. Many Lebanese blamed Syria and its Lebanese allies, particularly members of this country”s security apparatus, for the assassination. Both sides have denied such claims.
This combo shows from Left to Right, Major General Jamil Sayyed, Major General Ali Hajj, Brigadier General Raymond Azar, MP Nasser Qandil, and General Mustafa Hamdan (AFP)
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora speaks during a press conference at government house in downtown Beirut, Lebanon about the investigation into the assassination of Rafik Hariri (AP)