"... No Tribunal officials talked to Der Spiegel journalist ..."

M Bluhm in the Daily Star, here

"No one from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon talked with the Der Spiegel journalist who published a story on Saturday saying investigators believed Hizbullah was behind the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri," a tribunal spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

The court received only one brief e-mail - not written by journalist Erich Follath - asking tribunal prosecutor Daniel Bellemare to confirm he was zeroing in on Hizbullah and to confirm his interest in Hizbullah operatives later named in the German magazine's article, said Bellemare's spokeswoman Radhia Achouri. The tribunal's reply did not provide any information regarding the course of the investigation, she added.

"That was the only contact as far as the Office of the Prosecutor is concerned, and I can say the same for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in general," Achouri told The Daily Star. "We are not the ones who are going to be making the case through the media. When we want to say something, we will say it." The tribunal will not comment about the veracity of Saturday's story or any other media report about the investigation, she added.

"This investigation must remain confidential," she said. "We do not want to release any information that might tip off people we don't want to tip off. It is still a murder investigation, and we do not want to tip off the perpetrators. We did not say what it is that we are after.

"It's just another article. It's not the first; it's not the last. We do not get upset."

Follath said he had seen originals of the documents showing that detectives had identified Hizbullah members as the culprits in the February 2005 killing that sparked a wave of mass protests leading to the exit of Syrian troops from Lebanon after a 29-year presence, said an article in pan-Arab newspaper Ash-Sharq al-Awsat on Wednesday. Many in Lebanon's March 14 political alliance have blamed Syria for Hariri's assassination and other political killings, but Damascus has denied all accusations. Der Spiegel's accusation of Hizbullah has provoked a mostly muted response from March 14 politicians. ...."