Hariri probe commission says witness gives no false testimony
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-11-29 10:27

The UN commission probing the assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri on Monday dismissed allegations that Husam Taher Husam, a Syrian witness, was forced to give false testimony under coercion.

The commission said in a statement that the witness volunteered to give testimony and they had neither imposed any threat nor offered any reward.

Husam, a Syrian who said he had served as an agent for Syrian intelligence in Lebanon, said in an interview on Syrian TV that Hariri's son Saad Hariri had forced him to testify falsely to the UN probe.

Husam said Saad had told him that he was convinced that Syria was behind the murder and needed him to proof it. The witness added that he had been tortured, and offered 1.3 million US dollars by Lebanese Interior Minister Hassan al-Sabaa.

The UN commission said Husam, in his signed testimony on September 1, swore that he was making the testimony on his own will and would be punished by Lebanese laws if found telling lies.

It also said the witness had repeatedly voiced fears that he and his family could be persecuted by Syrian security agents.