Al-Hariri probe chief to step down

[bemildred]

Detlev Mehlis will step down shortly as chief UN investigator into the killing of ex-Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri but will remain available should the inquiry require his services.

Mehlis' spokesperson, who asked not to be named, said on Tuesday the date for Mehlis' departure was not yet determined, but added that the German prosecutor had made it clear when he accepted the job that he would stay on only for six or seven months.

The investigation into al-Hariri's 14 February murder was launched in June, and Mehlis is expected to submit his findings to the UN Security Council on 12 December.

Lebanon asked the world body last week to extend the inquiry's mandate for six months.

al Jazeera

[No Exit]

1. Uh-oh! Trouble in neocon paradise!

Apparently the plan to frame Syria is not working as well as expected.

[robcon]

3. Frame Syria!?!?!?!?!?!

Syria ordered Hariri's death, then executed the plan.

[No Exit]

4. Mmm-hmm.

And it's a darn good thing they did, too, because we were just itching for a good reason to attack them!:)

[allemand]

6. I doubt that "Syria" did it. Syrians, yes, perhaps, but "Syria"?

Do you really think that Bashar al-Asad would be that stupid? It wasn't too difficult to foresee the international reaction after the assassination of Hariri. Also, it doesn't seem to be "his style" to blow up ex-prime ministers of neighboring countries.

[allemand]

2. Bolton is already calling for "a clone of Mehlis" to replace the German.

I'd prefer a Hans Blix type of investigator to restore the credibility of the UN probe.

[No Exit]

5. God, I HATE prissy little men like Bolton who wear big bushy

mustaches. Or bow ties. (Yes, Fucker Carlson.)

Sorry for digressing into trivia...