UN Doctored Hariri Report to Shield Assad

The Times of London reports that yesterday’s UN report on the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri actually omitted more damning evidence against the Syrian government of dictator Bashar al-Assad.

UN office doctored report on murder of Hariri

The United Nations withheld some of the most damaging allegations against Syria in its report on the murder of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister, it emerged yesterday. The names of the brother of Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria, and other members of his inner circle, were dropped from the report that was sent to the Security Council.

The confidential changes were revealed by an extraordinary computer gaffe because an electronic version distributed by UN officials on Thursday night allowed recipients to track editing changes. The mistaken release of the unedited report added further support to the published conclusion that Syria was behind Mr Harir’s assassination in a bomb blast on Valentine’s Day in Beirut. The murder of Mr Hariri touched off an international outcry and hastened Syria’s departure from Lebanon in April after a 29-year pervasive military presence.

Yesterday, I was briefly worried that the UN might have done something worthwhile, in stark contrast to what I’ve observed in over two decades of studying international politics. The Times has quickly restored the natural order of the Universe.

FILED UNDER: Middle East, United Nations, , ,
James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. DL says:

    This outfit deserves to have all of those flags flying over Turtle Bay at have mast!

  2. Herb says:

    If this does not tell the US to tell the UN to “S*** or get off the pot” then every American should DEMAND that our US government tell the UN to go straight to Hell and get out of the UN totally and completely