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Hariri trial suspects to be tried in absentia in Lebanon

[ssba]

Four Hezbollah members suspected of involvement in the 2005 killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri are expected to be tried in absentia, after Lebanese authorities told the UN-backed Special Tribunal in Lebanon that they had been unable to track any of the men down. The four suspects are Mustafa Amine Badreddine, who is a senior movement official and brother-in-law of slain Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, Salim Jamil Ayyash, Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Assad Hassan Sabra. The Hezbollah leadership threatened to ‘cut the hands’ of anyone seeking to arrest the men, who according to media reports are not in hiding, but are rather living openly in Lebanon. One of them recently gave an interview to Time magazine in which he said that no attempt had been made to arrest him.

If the court decides to try the men in absentia the trial is expected to begin in the second half of next year.