Lebanon Probe Spurs Indictment

By FARNAZ FASSIHI in Beirut and JAY SOLOMON in Washington

A United Nations-backed prosecutor investigating the death of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri issued a sealed indictment Monday, according to the Netherlands-based court. The pretrial judge will decide whether the case presented by the prosecutor, Daniel Bellemare of Canada, is strong enough to go to trial. The court said if he chooses to issue formal indictments, he will then make the names public. Officials close to the investigation said this process will likely take six to eight weeks. Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, greets Qatar Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani in Damascus on Monday, as Arab leaders met to discuss the Lebanon crisis. "The Registrar of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon can confirm that the prosecutor of the tribunal has submitted an indictment," the court said. The court also said the investigation into the murder of Mr. Hariri, and other linked cases, is continuing and that other suspects could be indicted. "The indictment marks the beginning of the judicial phase of the tribunal's work," the court said. "The prosecutor and his team will continue to vigorously pursue his mandate with respect to both continued investigative activity and the prosecution of this case." In Beirut, talks over the formation of a new government were postponed Monday as a regional emergency meeting was under way in Damascus, Syria, to resolve Lebanon's crisis. Last week, Hezbollah, the Shiite political and militant group, and its political allies toppled the government headed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Rafik Hariri's son, because of its support for the international tribunal. Lebanese President Michel Sleiman said talks with the parliament to nominate a new prime minister will take place early next week. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton, in a statement, called the tribunal "an important step toward justice and ending impunity for murder," adding that those who oppose it "seek to create a false choice between justice and stability in Lebanon; we reject this."

The international investigation of Mr. Hariri's killing has exacerbated tensions inside Lebanon, as the tribunal is expected to indict between two and five Hezbollah members, officials briefed on the case said. Much of the case rests on intercepts of cellphone communications among the alleged assassins in February 2005, these people said. The alleged perpetrators initially worked through a closed cellphone network. This protection was compromised when one of the group's members called his girlfriend, they said. Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has publicly said he believes members of his organization will be charged with Mr. Hariri's murder. But Mr. Nasrallah has repeatedly denied his organization played any role in the 2005 bombing that killed the former Lebanese leader and 22 others in downtown Beirut. Among those being looked at in the U.N. probe, according to the people briefed on it, is Mustafa Badreddine, a senior Hezbollah military commander and brother-in-law of Imad Mugniyah, who was among the Federal Bureau of Investigation's most-wanted men before his death nearly three years ago. Mr. Mugniyah is alleged by U.S. officials to have overseen a string of terrorist attacks against American interests in the 1980s, including the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut that killed 241 servicemen. Mr. Mugniyah, who was killed in a 2008 car bombing in Damascus, is also believed by U.N. investigators to have played a role, along with his brother-inlaw, in the attack that killed Mr. Hariri, said the people briefed on the probe. The U.N. Security Council established the Hariri tribunal under a so-called Chapter 7 mandate, meaning the prosecutor has significant powers. U.S. and European officials said in recent days that they expected Lebanon's government, which currently funds 51% of the tribunal's work, to pull itsfinancial support now that Hezbollah has overthrown Mr. Hariri's government. But these officials stressed that the court's work would continue and that other Arab or European countries could provide additional funding, if Beirut backs out. "The tribunal's work will continue, we hope with Lebanese support," said a senior U.S. official working on Lebanon. Mr. Nasrallah attempted to get out ahead of the indictments by making a live televised appearance on Sunday night warning constituents the indictments would be released Monday. Mr. Nasrallah also said the opposition won't accept Mr. Hariri as the next prime minister of Lebanon, further complicating negotiations among political blocs. "The findings of the international tribunal are decided in Israel and Washington," he said in his speech Sunday night. A delegation of Qatari and Turkish officials will arrive in Beirut Tuesday to mediate talks. The indictments could further complicate the negotiations.

Arab and Israeli media and Iranian opposition websites are widely reporting that Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, will be indicted, along with a senior-level commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and Syrian officials close to President Bashar Assad. Arab media have also reported that two defected IRGC commanders will be witnesses at the tribunal. These reports couldn't be independently confirmed. "If the indictments go beyond Lebanon, then there is no way the damage can be managed here. If Iran and Syria are named, it's like a declaration of war with regional consequences," said Paul Salem, the director of the Middle East Center at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Nada Raad in Beirut contributed to this article.