More intrigue in the Hariri case

RAMZI HAIDAR/AFP/Getty Images More than three years after a massive car bomb in Beirut killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri, there’s been scant progress on the U.N. investigation into the culprits behind the assassination. Conspiracy theories abound. One popular among Lebanese political leaders is that notorious Hezbollah leader Imad Mougniyah was killed in Damascus ...

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595498_080411_hariri2.jpg

RAMZI HAIDAR/AFP/Getty Images

RAMZI HAIDAR/AFP/Getty Images

More than three years after a massive car bomb in Beirut killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri, there’s been scant progress on the U.N. investigation into the culprits behind the assassination. Conspiracy theories abound. One popular among Lebanese political leaders is that notorious Hezbollah leader Imad Mougniyah was killed in Damascus in February in exchange for cooling the pressure on the Hariri tribunal, which has implicated top Syrian leaders.

Now, a key witness who implicated pro-Syrian generals in the Hariri assassination has gone missing. The family of Mohammed Zuheir al-Siddiq, a Syrian intelligence officer who had been living under house arrest in France, accuses the French government of being involved in his “liquidation.” It’s no wonder that the new head of the U.N. investigation is saying that he needs his June deadine extended.

And on a side note: Mougniyah is getting his own postage stamp in Iran. First-class postage.

Carolyn O'Hara is a senior editor at Foreign Policy.

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