The verdict by a tribunal in the 2005 murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri does not directly implicate the Hezbollah organization, but it does show that the Iranian-backed group not only knew of the plot but actually carried it out in the service of Syria and perhaps Tehran as well.
The court, which was operating under the umbrella of the United Nations, found a member of the terror group guilty and exonerated three others, and said there was insufficient forensic evidence to actually prove Hezbollah's complicity in the crime.
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A crater caused by the explosion that killed Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri in 2005
(Photo: AP)
Therefore it refrained from handing down a potentially volatile ruling that would have far-reaching international and political implications and could even spark a new Lebanese civil war.
The verdict, it appears, has little bearing on the already chaotic reality in the Mideast nation that is suffering economically and politically and from sectarian divides, all compounded by the devastating explosion in the Beirut port earlier this month that destroyed half of the city.
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The aftermath of the devastating explosion in the Beirut port earlier this month
(Photo: AFP)
Hezbollah is at a low point in terms of public support. There is even criticism of among Shi'ites of the Hezbollah-backed government for its neglect of Lebanese interests in favor of alliances with Syria and Iran.
What the court ruling did reveal was how Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah kept the judicial panel from definitive findings about its role in Hariri's murder.
In May 2016, Nasrallah dispatched killers to Damascus to dispose of Mustafa Badreddine, a high-ranking commander in his own organization.
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Mustafa Badreddine a Hezbollah commander allegedly murdered by Nasrallah in 2016
(Photo: Courtesy)
Badereddine was the cousin and brother-in-law of Imad Mughniyah, the Hezbollah no. 2 who was killed in Damascus in 2008 (allegedly by Israel), and replaced him as the group's head of foreign operations.
The court had been investigating Badereddine's involvement in the bombing that killed Hariri.
At first, Israel was suspected of having been responsible for Badreddine's death but it was actually Nasrallah who cleared Jerusalem of suspicion as rumors over the killing circulated, citing his immoral behavior as justification.
But a clearer explanation as to why Iran, Syria and Hezbollah were all in favor of Badreddine's premature demise came when the judges announced charges against him were dropped after his murder.
Had he still been alive, he may have presented the evidence to establish a direct connection of Syria, Iran and their proxy terror group to Hariri's death.
Hariri's assassination sent Lebanon into the spiral it is still suffering today.
During the 80s and 90s, he had succeeded in rebuilding Lebanon after it was destroyed by years of civil war and Israeli invasion.
Through his good ties with the U.S., Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states as well as ongoing cooperation with France, Hariri managed to enlist support and return his country to its heyday of the 1970s, when it was known as the Paris of the Middle East.
But the Syrian and Iranian regimes were thwarted from meddling in Lebanon's affairs and so his fate was sealed.
Tuesday's ruling has disappointed many who were hoping for a more direct indictment of Hezbollah, Iran and Syria.