Hariri-Assad relations always tense: Bassem al-Sabeh

BEIRUT: Driving back to Beirut from a trip to Damascus in 1999, Rafik Hariri waited until he was in Lebanese territory before sharing his thoughts about Bashar Assad, the heir apparent to ailing Syrian President Hafez Assad.

Pulling over to the side of the road after passing the Masnaa crossing, Hariri turned toward his friend and political ally Bassem al-Sabeh and sighed. “God help Syria, it will be governed by a child.”Testifying at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Monday, Sabeh shared details of Hariri’s relationship with the Syrian regime and its operatives in Lebanon and offered specific insight into the former Prime Minister’s reactions after meeting with members of the Syrian regime.

Sabeh, an editor at As-safir newspaper before becoming an MP and ultimately information minister, was privy to Hariri’s meetings with high-ranking Syrian officials.

The relationship between Hariri and Bashar Assad was strained even before the latter became the president of Syria in 2000, Sabeh testified. He recalled a sense of unease after Hariri left that meeting with Assad in 1999.

“My impression was that things will not be comfortable in the future,” Sabeh told the court.

Another time, in 2003, Hariri went as scheduled to a meeting with Bashar Assad but was surprised to find three military officers present.

“Hariri said to me verbatim, ‘the three men took turns, one after another, each throwing accusations at me ... I felt personally insulted and I felt my country was insulted,’” Sabeh told the court.

Sabeh added that Hariri had found Rustom Ghazaleh, the top Syrian intelligence officer in Lebanon, the most abusive.

“Who are you? You are worth nothing without Syria. You are worth nothing without his excellency President Bashar Assad,” Ghazaleh said, according to Sabeh.

While five Hezbollah members have been charged in absentia with plotting Hariri’s assassination in February 2005, the prosecution has concurrently cast light on the fraught relationship between the former Prime Minister and the Syrian regime. Several prosecution witnesses have testified about the particular hostility Ghazaleh expressed toward Hariri.

Syrian officials suspected, not incorrectly, that Hariri had worked with members of the international community to draft Security Council Resolution 1559, which called for Syria’s withdrawal from Lebanese territory.

At the 2003 meeting, the security officers had accused Hariri of “conspiring against Syria,” Sabeh said.

Later, at a meeting in August 2004, Hariri was explicitly told to submit to Syria’s political vision for Lebanon. According to Sabeh, when Hariri balked at extending President Emile Lahoud’s term, Assad issued a direct order.

“You are not here to give an opinion ... You are here to implement a decision [and] to do what should be done,” Assad said.

The acrimonious meetings with Assad, as well as the attempted murder of Marwan Hamade, signaled “a possible security operation by Bashar Assad or the Syrian regime against Rafik Hariri,” Sabeh added.

Sabeh, a Shiite member of the Future Movement, will continue his testimony at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Tuesday.