the bush administration seems to be using the mehlis report to push for the UN to impose sanctions on syria for its involvement in rafiq al-hariri's death. while the mehlis report does say that there's strong evidence that syrian intelligence was involved and that syrian officials were not always cooperative or truthful with the investigatory commission, i don't think it supports any actions against syria that bush is calling for. the report does not reach any definitive conclusion of who is at fault for hariri's death. indeed, the "conclusion" specifically states as much, noting that there are plenty more leads that still need to be followed:
205. The Commission considers that the investigation must continue for some time to come. In the short time period of four months more than 400 persons have been interviewed, 60 000 documents reviewed, several suspects identified, and some main leads established. Yet, the investigation is not complete.a quick review: the mehlis commission was created during the international outrage that followed the hariri assassination. although the lebanese government itself was also investigating the killing there was a feeling that a a lebanese-only investigation would not be completely credible. the lebanese had every incentive to pin all blame on the syrians and absolve politically connected lebanese who might be involved. the only definitive conclusion that the mehlis report really reaches is that the lebanese investigation is credible. mehlis says that there's no reason for a separate UN commission to investigate the killing, the lebanese are doing a professional job on their own (provided they continue to get support from the international community). the report may have been the final word from the mehlis commission, but it isn't, and doesn't pretend to be, the final word on the hariri killing.
206. It is the Commission’s conclusion that the continuing investigation should be carried forward by the appropriate Lebanese judicial and security authorities, who have proved during the investigation that with international assistance and support, they can move ahead and at times take the lead in an effective and professional manner. At the same time, the Lebanese authorities should look into all the case’s ramifications including bank transactions. The 14 February explosion needs to be assessed clearly against the sequence of explosions which preceded and followed it, since there could be links between some, if not all, of them.
UPDATE (10/24/05): three things:
(1) a non-broken link to the entire report in english is here.
(2) as discussed in the comments, the times of london doctored, but in comparing the version on the UN site and the link provided at the end of the times article, i can't find any differences--at least not in the conclusion section. the times link is via Golden Boy.
(3) as mark from ireland pointed out, last weeks report was not the final report of the mehlis commission. the real final report is due to come out december 15, 2005. that's my mistake, but all the more reason it's a little premature to call for any penalties against syria now.
