Posted on 01/16/2014 9:14:28 AM PST by NormsRevenge
The trial of four men accused of murdering former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri has begun at an unprecedented tribunal at The Hague.
The four - alleged associates of the Syria-backed militant Shia movement Hezbollah - have not been arrested and are being tried in absentia.
Hariri and 21 others were killed by a massive car bomb in Beirut in 2005.
The killings polarised Lebanon and led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops. Hezbollah denies any involvement.
It instead says the assassination was part of an Israeli and US conspiracy.
Shortly before the trial was to start, a suicide bomb blast was reported near a government building in the town of Hermel - a Hezbollah stronghold.
At least four people and the bomber were killed and more than 20 wounded in the attack in the town, which is in the Bekaa Valley, near the northern border with Syria.
Fifth suspect
In his address at the start of the trial, judge David Re said it had been decided that all necessary steps had been taken to try to bring the accused to court.
He said that the court would proceed as if the defendants were present and that, although no pleas had been entered, they would be presumed to have pleaded not guilty and it would be the prosecution's task to prove guilt beyond all reasonable doubt.
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(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
The year the cedars of Lebanon shook to their roots
The year we almost had a coherent energy policy
but for a lone Rino..
2005.
I remember a little bit..
enjoy the prolonged trial process..
we're all paying for it.
Reuters on Yahoo
Prosecutors build Hariri bomb plot case on cellphone logs
http://news.yahoo.com/prosecutors-build-hariri-bomb-plot-case-cellphone-logs-161711536.html
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