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So what do you think…..who’s responsible for Hariri's death?
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- The body of Rafik Hariri, the assassinated former prime minister of Lebanon, has been buried amid a passionate crush of mourners crowded around the mosque Hariri helped build. After a two-hour journey from Hariri's west Beirut mansion to the Mohammed al-Amin mosque at Martyr's Square, the body was removed from the coffin and buried only in a shroud. CNN's Ben Wederman said that 100,000 mourners packed the streets along the two-mile (3.2 kilometer) route, forcing the ambulance carrying Hariri's coffin to crawl at a snail's pace.
A massive bomb explosion Monday killed Hariri and 16 others, wounding 137. The blast left a huge crater along Beirut's upscale waterfront area.
The funeral procession left Hariri's home just before 10 a.m. (3 a.m. ET) and arrived at Martyr's Square in the city's old center at noon (5 a.m. ET.) It took another hour for the coffin to make its way through the crowd to the burial site. Large tents were erected in the square outside the mosque to accommodate dignitaries, which included U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns. No heads of state were there, as the family, which indirectly blames the government for the assassination, rejected an offer of a state funeral. The family said the burial should be "a popular remembrance." The funeral comes as U.S. pressure mounts on Syria in the wake of the deadly blast in Lebanon that killed Hariri, with Washington recalling its ambassador from Syria.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday Syria was "unfortunately on a path right now where relations are not improving, but are worsening." Rice did not blame Syria for Monday's bomb attack that, but she did challenge Syria's long-standing claim that its troops were needed in Lebanon to provide security. "There is no doubt that the conditions created by Syria's presence there have created a destabilized situation in Lebanon," she said.
Syria's Ambassador to the U.S., Imad Moustapha, was quick to return the verbal blows. In a thinly-veiled jab at Washington, he said accusations that Syria is supporting terrorism are akin to claims, later disproved, that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction in the lead-up to the war. "If anyone is trying to politically score some points against Syria, I would say ... this would be shameful," he told CNN.Meanwhile, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington has "made it clear" it wants Syria, which maintains some 16,000 troops in Lebanon, to use its influence to prevent attacks such as Monday's massive bombing.
"I have been very careful to say we really don't know who committed this murder at this point, but we do know what effect the Syrian presence in Lebanon has," Boucher said. "And we do know that it doesn't bring security for Lebanese." After already handing Syria a strongly worded letter from the U.S. government, U.S. Ambassador to Syria Margaret Scobey was meeting with the Syrian foreign minister Wednesday before leaving Damascus for "urgent consultations" in Washington.
Rice ordered Scobey back on Tuesday, citing a "growing list of differences with the Syrian government." The reason for Scobey's meeting with Foreign Minister Farook Al-Shar'a was not made public. In addition to Syria's troops in Lebanon, Boucher said the United States has concerns about "the continued presence and operational activities of international terrorist groups, and of the Iranian regime on and through Syrian territory, and the use of Syrian territory by the Iraqi insurgency."
Monday's bombing occurred amid increasing political tensions in advance of Lebanon's parliamentary elections in May. Lebanon's pro-Syrian government, which counts on its neighbor for security, has come under fire from a growing anti-Syrian opposition that says Lebanon can take care of its own security. Hariri's supporters in the Lebanese political opposition said they held Syria and the pro-Damascus Lebanese government responsible for his murder.
In Syria, government spokeswoman Buthaina Shaaban said Monday that Syrian-Lebanese relations had nothing to do with the bombing. "We want a full investigation to show who is behind this assassination," Shaaban said. Lebanese Information Minister Elie Ferzli rejected allegations that either the government or Syria was behind the killing. "We consider these accusations irresponsible," he told CNN. "We consider that the assassination of Hariri is against stability. And we consider that stability is our concern. So, this action is against us," he said. "We are going to miss Hariri." Investigators were sifting the site for clues to the cause of the bombing that ripped through Beirut's seafront boulevard on Monday, leaving rubble, burning vehicles, twisted metal and glass strewn for blocks.Police have questioned four people and are searching for a man who claimed responsibility for the attack, which wounded 137 people.
Identifying himself as Ahmad Abu Adas, the man read a statement claiming responsibility on behalf of a previously unknown group called Victory and Jihad. He said the bombing was a "just punishment" for Hariri's close ties to the Saudi government. Adas is believed to be Lebanese. Authorities have searched his home, but he was not there. Of the four people questioned by authorities, all are associates of his and all but one have been released. The Lebanese army was on full alert Tuesday at the start of three days of mourning over the death of Hariri. Schools, shops, private and public institutions were closed for the day.The bombing conjured up images from more than a decade ago, when car bombs were used by militias as a weapon of choice to plunge Lebanon into chaos. "I haven't seen anything on this scale in Beirut since the dark days of the civil war," said CNN's Brent Sadler. ()
Hariri, 60, served as prime minister from 1992-98 and again from 2000 until his resignation in October after parliament amended the Lebanese constitution to extend pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud's term for three years. Lahoud was to leave office in November. Hariri, the Maronite church, the Christian Qornet Shahwan bloc and Druze leader Walid Jumblat opposed the extension of Lahoud's term, but Syria supported it.
A U.N. source told CNN that in recent days "strong messages" were sent to the Syrian government regarding Hariri's security. French President Jacques Chirac issued a statement calling for "an international investigation ... without delay to determine the circumstances and responsibilities of this tragedy and to bring those responsible to justice."White House spokesman Scott McClellan condemned the attack and described Hariri as a man who worked "tirelessly to rebuild a free, independent and prosperous Lebanon following its civil war and foreign occupation."
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/02/16/beirut.explosion/index.html
