BEIRUT: Syria has called for the arrest of 33 people suspected of providing false testimony to the United Nations probe into the murder of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri, a general implicated in the killing said. Jamil Sayyed, the former chief of Lebanon's fearsome General Security, said a Syrian investigative judge had issued warrants “against judges, security officers, politicians, journalists and other Lebanese, Arab and foreign officials and individuals.” Included in the warrants is Detlev Mehlis, a German prosecutor who ordered the detention of Sayyed and three other Lebanese generals after an initial UN investigative service picked over the evidence in the wake of Hariri's assassination. Lebanese defendants including the head of Internal Security Forces Ashraf Rifi, Deputy Marwan Hamadeh, Chief Prosecutor Sayyed Mirza and form justice minister Charles Rizk. Sayyed has accused several Lebanese lawmakers of cooking up false information and fabricating witnesses to implement Syria in Hariri's death. Rifi suggested on Monday that INTERPOL would not cooperate with Syria's warrant requests, given Damascus's refusal to cooperate with the international service on previous occasions. The warrants will cast a pall over Lebanese-Syrian relationships at a time when the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) is under increased scrutiny as the world awaits indictments from the court. Hizbullah and other political parties have already signaled their intent to block Lebanese funding for the probe. There are fears anticipated indictments against Hizbullah members could prompt a new wave of civil unrest similar to that which tore through the capital in May 2008, with pro-government and opposition gunmen fighting deadly battles for control of west Beirut. The warrants also constitute a personal blow to the credibility of beleaguered Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who in a remarkable about-turn last month indicated he had been wrong to implicate Damascus in the killing of his father, labeling the charge a “political accusation.” One of Hariri's closest political aides, MP Oqab Sakr, slammed the arrest warrants. “This is a shocking development in terms of relations between the prime minister and the Syrian leadership,” Sakr said on Monday. The political ramifications of the warrants do not bode well for relations between Damascus and Beirut which, after several months of thawing, are once again cooling off. Many commentators in Lebanon see the decision to issue arrest requests as tantamount to a resumption of Syrian control over Lebanese domestic policy. The Cabinet is due to discuss the warrants later Monday, although reports suggest that Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar's report on false witnesses is unlikely to be on the agenda.
