ure to reform.
He also said that former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri was threatened by Syria months before he was assassinated. That claim made him the first former top member of the Syrian government to confirm allegations in a U.N. commission report that Assad threatened Hariri in an August 2004 meeting. The two leaders were at odds about Syria’s desire to extend the mandate of Lebanon’s pro-Syrian president. Hariri was known to oppose the extension.
The U.N. probe into Hariri’s killing has already implicated Syria, but Damascus has denied the allegations. Hariri, a Lebanese nationalist who sought to assist his country wiggle free from Syrian control, was assassinated in a truck bombing Feb. 14 in Beirut. The blast killed 20 other people.
Khaddam’s damaging remarks on Al-Arabiya caused an uproar in Syria, where he was declared a traitor who should stand trial, stripped of his membership in the ruling Baath Party and his assets impounded.
See here for the BBC report.
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