BEIRUT: Former MP Salim Diab endured a grueling cross examination at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Friday, as the defense sought to cast him as an unreliable witness. Antoine Korkmaz, the lead defense attorney for suspect Mustafa Baddredine, repeatedly drew attention to apparent inconsistencies and opaque points in statements that Diab had given to U.N. investigators in the wake of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination.
Diab, who was Hariri’s electoral campaign manager, testified that on two occasions he had shared information with the U.N. International Independent Investigation Commission (IIIC), the body charged with looking into the massive blast which ripped through Downtown Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005, killing the former prime minister and 21 others.
Diab admitted that he had told investigators about hearing a rumor regarding an individual who was supposedly paid $500,000 to change the route of Hariri’s convoy the day of the assassination. Diab apologized in court Friday, saying that he could not recall the source of that information.
Diab also said that after hearing that the Syrian government wanted to kill him in the summer of 2005 he pleaded with an important sheikh from Aleppo to resolve his case. Diab apologized profusely once again, saying that he did not remember the name of the sheikh.
Diab shrugged off some of the questions by responding that he was in “a state that was very bad” for months after the assassination.
When pressed by Korkmaz to “make an effort,” Diab insisted that he was not willingly withholding any information.
“I wish I could give you more information about everything, but I am not here to say anything that I don’t remember for sure,” Diab said.
Separately, the family of former MP Adnan Arakji rebutted testimony which Diab gave Thursday. Diab had claimed that the Syrian government compelled Hariri to include the late Arakji on his electoral ticket in the 1996 parliamentary elections.
“Claims that the late Arakji was imposed on the slate of Martyr Rafik Hariri are totally baseless,” a statement by Arakji’s family said.
“Particularly because he was highly popular, specifically among Beirutis and this cannot be ignored,” the statement added.
It said, however, that Arakji had business and friendship ties with Syrian leaders and people for over 50 years, adding that “we are proud of this friendship.”
Diab’s testimony is part of the political evidence being presented before the U.N.-based tribunal tasked with prosecuting those responsible for killing Hariri. Five Hezbollah members are being tried in absentia for the crime.
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