'All the President's Men'

The four generals of Lebanon's secret police apparatus are docked in jail. The four generals have been charged by the attorney-general for their connection in the killing of former PM Rafik Hariri. This is the first tangible result of the UN committee investigating the killing of former PM - headed by German prosecutor Dehtlev Mehlis.

The 'magnificent four' are President Emile Lahoud's men, who is a former general himself. They are the head of Republican Guard (Lahoud's chief bodyguard), Director-General of Surete General (main intelligence apparatus), head of military intelligence and chief of internal security forces (Police). But it is unfair to imply that those were only Lahoud's men; as a matter of fact the 4+1 (with Lahoud) have been Syria's men in Lebanon until Syria's withdrawal in April '05.

For the last 15 years, those men were the most loyal to the Syrian ruling authority in Lebanon and the masters in Damascus. They used and abused their power to terrorize and prosecute whoever opposed Syria and its policies in Lebanon. Long stories are told about their role in terrorizing journalists, intervening to appoint civil servants, attacking student demonstration, intervening in elections etc...

This is a major development in the investigation but still things to come. Mehlis is interrogating Syrian officials on the 10th of September and this could be the final count-down to know the truth of how and who killed the ex-PM.

If Mehlis succeeds of in his mission, the repercussions of knowing the truth will be unprecedented as it will be the first time to know the truth behind a political assassination in the Middle East - a major step to generate accountable and democratic practices in this part of the world.

- Comic by Savro and Published in al-Balad daily in Beirut showing the four generals in jail and Mehlis announcing this in a press conference

- see also FT article http://news.ft.com/cms/s/17d31ca6-1b1f-11da-a117-00000e2511c8.html