Pompeo welcomes ruling against Hezbollah operative in Hariri killing

BEIRUT: U.S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed Tuesday the verdict of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the case of the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. 

“Although Ayyash remains at large, the STL’s ruling underscores the importance of rendering justice and ending impunity, which is imperative to ensuring Lebanon’s security, stability and sovereignty,” Pompeo said in a statement. 

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon said Salim Ayyash was guilty as a co-conspirator of five charges linked to his involvement in the suicide truck bombing. Hariri and 21 others were killed and 226 were wounded in a huge blast outside a seaside hotel in Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005.

“Although Ayyash remains at large, the STL’s ruling underscores the importance of rendering justice and ending impunity, which is imperative to ensuring Lebanon’s security, stability and sovereignty,” Pompeo added.

The court found evidence that Ayyash was a member of Hezbollah, arguing that the killing was political and could not have been carried out alone. It did not, however, find evidence linking Hezbollah's leadership or the Syrian regime in ordering out the attack. At the time of the killing, Syria had a substantial military presence in Lebanon after establishing its foothold following the conclusion of the civil war in the early '90s. 

It also found three other known members of the group not guilty, citing a lack of evidence. 

“Hezbollah operatives do not freelance. Ayyash’s conviction helps confirm what the world is increasingly recognizing – that Hezbollah and its members are not defenders of Lebanon as they claim to be, but constitute a terrorist organization dedicated to advancing Iran’s malign sectarian agenda,” Pompeo added.

“As the Lebanese people suffer through a crushing economic crisis, Hezbollah’s exploitation of Lebanon’s financial system, its degradation of Lebanese institutions, and its provocative and dangerous actions threaten the Lebanese people and jeopardize Lebanon’s financial well-being and potential recovery,” Pompeo said.

“It is more concerned with its own interests and those of its patron, Iran, than what is best for Lebanon and the Lebanese people.”

The U.S has been increasing its maximum pressure campaign against Iran and its main proxy Hezbollah, designating. swathes of individuals and organizations linked to them.