Editorials

The Irish Times view on The Hague UN court verdict on the 2005 Beirut bombing: Judgment pleases few

The verdict, many hoped, would be a watershed moment, a chance to shake off the past, but if anything it will deepen divisions as the country mourns the victims of the August 4th explosions in Beirut port which killed more than 170 and wounded 6,000

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri gives a statement to the press outside the Lebanon Tribunal at The Hague. Photograph: Pierre Crom/Getty Images

Thu Aug 20 2020 - 00:02

The Hague UN court finding that Salim Ayyash, a mid-level Hezbollah activist, participated in the conspiracy to kill former PM Rafik Hariri and 21 others in a Beirut bombing in 2005 was not going to bring closure.

The long-awaited verdict, particularly the acquittal of three others, and the refusal of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to blame either Hezbollah or the Syrian government, was bound to disappoint those certain of the latter's responsibility who will not be persuaded to the contrary. And it will anger the militant Shia Hezbollah group, which has become so dominant and vital to Lebanese politics, and is refusing to hand over Ayyash for trial.

Although the court said that Syria and Hezbollah had motives to "eliminate" Hariri, who had resigned as prime minister in anger at Syria's continuing interference, it said it lacked direct evidence implicating them in the crime. Hariri had said that president Bashar al-Assad threatened him although he was reportedly due to travel to Damascus at the time of his assassination.

Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah said that it considered the court’s finding irrelevant.

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In the 15 years since the bombing Lebanon’s dysfunctional politics has fed off the chaos and vacuum that followed Hariri’s death, an enfeebled country withering under the weight of political decay, clientelism and hegemony. Throughout that period Hezbollah’s influence in the country grew and up to a dozen politicians and journalists opposed to the group and to Syria’s influence were assassinated in car bombs or shootings

The verdict, many hoped, would be a watershed moment, a chance to shake off the past, but if anything it will deepen divisions as the country mourns the victims of the August 4th explosions in Beirut port which killed more than 170 and wounded 6,000. An irate population has been out on the streets demanding the end of the impunity which has been a central feature of Lebanese politics. The tribunal’s verdict will give little hope that any international inquiry will do any better this time in holding those responsible to account.

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