Hezbollah implicated in Hariri assassination

The U.N. backed tribunal probing the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said it had enough evidence to implicate Hezbollah. On Wednesday, Judge Daniel Fransen of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon based in the Hague disclosed details of indictments accusing four Lebanese suspects with ties to Hezbollah. The court issued arrest warrants for Mustafa Amine Badreddine, Salim Jamil Ayyash, Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Assad Hassan Sabra. The four have reportedly fled to Iran to escape prosecution. Details of the indictment released by the court said Badreddine "served as the overall controller of the operation," the daily said. Ayyash coordinated the assassination team "which was responsible for the physical preparation of the attack," the daily said quoting the indictment details. Oneissi and Sabra "had the task of preparing the false claim of responsibility, which served to identify the wrong people to investigate, in order to shield the conspirators from justice," the indictment said. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has denied any involvement in the death of the former prime minister.