Now that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon has ruled that a terrorist with the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah was responsible for the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the challenge for Lebanon is to end the malign influence Iran continues to exert over its political system.
There will be many in Lebanon who will be profoundly disappointed at the tribunal's judgment; it found only one of the four defendants guilty and no evidence linking Hezbollah's leadership or the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Al Assad to the atrocity.
On one level it is perhaps unsurprising that the tribunal, which has cost a staggering $1 billion, reached such an unsatisfactory outcome. Both the Hezbollah leadership and the authorities in Damascus refused to co-operate in any meaningful sense, so investigators were denied access to evidence that might have resulted in a very different conclusion.
The extent of Hezbollah's hostility to the tribunal was reflected in the fact that none of the four indicted suspects were made available to it. The entire trial was held in their absence, meaning it is highly unlikely that Salim Ayyash, who was found guilty, will ever serve a moment of the sentence the tribunal is expected to hand down on Friday.
Even so, as far as the hard-pressed Lebanese are concerned, there are some positives that can be taken from the judgment For one, an internationally recognised body has publicly ruled that a Hezbollah operative committed the cold-bloodied murder of a democratically-elected Lebanese politician.
Ayyash, it should be said, is no ordinary Hezbollah operative. He happens to be the brother-in-law of Imad Mughniyeh, who helped to establish Hezbollah's military wing. Mughniyeh was also the notorious architect responsible for, among many other atrocities, the lorry bomb attacks on the US embassy in Beirut in the early 1980s.
Mughniyeh was a constant presence in both Tehran, where he worked closely with senior members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including Quds Force commander Qassem Suleimani, and Damascus, where he lived with his family until he was killed by a joint CIA-Mossad operation in 2008.
Although less is known about the 56-year-old Ayyash’s role in Hezbollah, the fact that he was a close family associate of Mughniyeh suggests he will be well-versed in the relationships between Hezbollah and the regimes in Syria and Iran. The latter is so intimate that Hezbollah’s every move is closely coordinated with the IRGC.
Ayyash was also related by marriage to Mustafa Badreddine, another senior Hezbollah commander who was originally charged by the tribunal alongside him, although those charges were later dropped when Badreddine was killed fighting for the Assad regime in Syria in 2016.
Therefore, even though many will be disappointed with the tribunal’s overall findings, there is nevertheless enough material that can be drawn from Ayyash’s involvement in the murder to raise serious questions about whether Hezbollah should be allowed to participate in Lebanon’s political future.
Hezbollah’s ability to influence key political decisions in Lebanon is due primarily to the accord it reached with Lebanese President Michel Aoun in the year after Hariri’s murder.
But as Bahaa Hariri, the eldest son of the murdered former prime minister, told me when I met him in London earlier this week, the tribunal’s verdict ought to result in Hezbollah’s complete removal from Lebanese politics.
An internationally recognised body has publicly ruled that a Hezbollah operative committed the cold-bloodied murder of a democratically-elected Lebanese politician
“Hezbollah has no place in Lebanon’s future,” said Mr Hariri, who is campaigning for a new Lebanese constitution aimed at healing the country’s long-standing sectarian divisions. He also wants an end to the ability of countries like Iran to control Lebanon’s political destiny.
“Hezbollah cannot and does not do anything without the say-so of its foreign masters. The new Lebanon must be a neutral country. The only way for this to happen is for Hezbollah to be removed. They’ve had their chance and, if they haven’t delivered for Lebanon so far, they will not in future. Nobody with blood on their hands can hold political office in Lebanon.”
The challenge now for Mr Hariri and the thousands of Lebanese protesters who have taken to the streets to protest at the Lebanese government’s disastrous handling of the economy, as well as its complicity in the recent devastating explosion at Beirut port, is how to achieve their goal of ending Hezbollah’s involvement in running the country.
On a domestic level, the country might appear to be in too weak a position to challenge Hezbollah, especially in the Shiite heartlands in the south of the country. Iran, despite its own financial difficulties, continues to provide financial and military assistance to the organisation, which means that any attempt by the Lebanese authorities to challenge its dominance could lead to further bloodshed.
Even so, there are encouraging signs that the Lebanese people have finally had enough of Iran's unwelcome interference in their affairs, so the widespread clamour for a root and branch reform of the Lebanese political system could prove to be unstoppable.
Moreover, the tribunal verdict, at the very least, should finally persuade Mr Aoun, who has previously supported Hezbollah’s participation in the coalition government, that it is no longer in his country’s interests to tolerate an organisation that is associated with the assassination of one of its most admired, democratically-elected representatives.
Con Coughlin is the Telegraph’s defence and foreign affairs editor
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
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WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More coverage from the Future Forum
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What is tokenisation?
Tokenisation refers to the issuance of a blockchain token, which represents a virtually tradable real, tangible asset. A tokenised asset is easily transferable, offers good liquidity, returns and is easily traded on the secondary markets.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar
Rating: 4/5
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
THE SPECS
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 275hp at 6,600rpm
Torque: 353Nm from 1,450-4,700rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Top speed: 250kph
Fuel consumption: 6.8L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: Dh146,999
How to join and use Abu Dhabi’s public libraries
• There are six libraries in Abu Dhabi emirate run by the Department of Culture and Tourism, including one in Al Ain and Al Dhafra.
• Libraries are free to visit and visitors can consult books, use online resources and study there. Most are open from 8am to 8pm on weekdays, closed on Fridays and have variable hours on Saturdays, except for Qasr Al Watan which is open from 10am to 8pm every day.
• In order to borrow books, visitors must join the service by providing a passport photograph, Emirates ID and a refundable deposit of Dh400. Members can borrow five books for three weeks, all of which are renewable up to two times online.
• If users do not wish to pay the fee, they can still use the library’s electronic resources for free by simply registering on the website. Once registered, a username and password is provided, allowing remote access.
• For more information visit the library network's website.
The specs
Engine: 0.8-litre four cylinder
Power: 70bhp
Torque: 66Nm
Transmission: four-speed manual
Price: $1,075 new in 1967, now valued at $40,000
On sale: Models from 1966 to 1970
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
