Hariri Points To Syrian Murder Plot.

Sa'd Hariri, the leader of Lebanon's anti-Syria "March 14 Forces", on Oct. 30 said he had information about a Syrian plot to kill him and PM Fou'ad Siniora. Sa'd, son of slain former PM Rafiq Hariri, said in Cairo after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that Lebanese security agencies were investigating the information in co-operation with other Arab agencies. Asked whether Assef Shawkat, head of Syrian military intelligence and brother-in-law of President Bashar al-Assad , was behind the alleged plot, he said: "We have information about this, and we're following up on it. It is accurate information".

Shawkat is among 10 Syrian officials and Lebanese politicians Washington accuses of undermining the Lebanese government, and who are banned from entering the US. Asked about Hariri's comments, an official at the Beirut office of Siniora said: "It is true and we have been informed about it". Sa'd's efforts have led to a UN-backed court to judge those responsible for his father's death. He says "what is happening in Lebanon today is a destabilising coup".

Hariri said his talks with Mubarak focused plans to elect a new president for Lebanon to succeed Emile Lahoud, a puppet of the Syrian regime whose term ends on Nov. 24. Hariri spoke of "interference of certain states (Syria & Iran) to prevent the holding of this election". He said the most recent political assassinations came a few days after Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a member of the pro-Syria opposition, appealed for dialogue.

French Envoy Jean-Claude Cousseran on Oct. 30 was reported as having been told by Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Shara' that there would be a "war of trenches" in Lebanon if the "March 14 Forces" elected as president a person not to the liking of the 'Alawite/Ba'thist regime, or if it prevented the election of a Syria-backed candidate. But Cousseran, who had met with Shara' in Damascus in the previous week, also seemed to support suspicions in Beirut that Syria did not want any presidential election to be held, thus causing a dangerous power vacuum in Lebanon which would help Syria-backed groups to cause chaos in the country. The Syrian regime's top priority is to prevent the UN court from trying the killers of Hariri and other Lebanese VIPs.