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Lebanon arrests three ex-security officials

Posted on: Tuesday, 30 August 2005, 02:05 CDT

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese police arrested three former top pro-Syrian security officials on Tuesday, a security source said, in a move believed to be linked to investigations into the killing of an ex-prime minister.

The source said Jamil al-Sayyed, former chief of the General Security Directorate, Ali Hajj, ex-head of police, and Raymond Azar, ex-head of military intelligence, were arrested in raids at their homes at dawn by police.

It was not immediately clear why the arrests were made but the three men had been blamed by some Lebanese politicians of playing a role in the February 14 killing of ex-prime minister

Rafik al-Hariri.

Another source confirmed the arrests of the former security officials but said former member of parliament Nassir Qandil had not been arrested as reported earlier. Police raided Qandil's home but did not find him, he said.

Several other people were also arrested, the sources said.

They added the chief of the Republican Guard Mustafa Hamdan, the only remaining pro-Syrian security official still in his post after parliamentary elections produced an anti-Syrian majority, was said to be wanted for questioning.

A U.N. team probing the assassination of Hariri is wrapping up its work and its chief, German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, is expected to report his findings to the Security Council in the next few weeks.

The killing of Hariri, which many in Lebanon blamed on Syria, brought mass anti-Syrian demonstrations in Beirut. Damascus denied its involvement but bowed to world pressure and pulled out its 14,000 troops from the country in April.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview published on Sunday Damascus would fully cooperate in the Hariri murder investigation after Mehlis criticized Syria of not cooperating with the inquiry.

The three arrested former officers were in their posts when Hariri was killed. They were blamed for negligence and a role in the attempted cover-up of the murder.

Sayyed, the former head of the most powerful pro-Syrian security organs, resigned one day before Syria ended its military presence in Lebanon in April.

Source: REUTERS

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