Who Killed Elie Hobeika?
More evidence Syria behind car-bomb assassination of cabinet minister
© 2002 WorldNetDaily.com

While the Islamic world continues to point fingers at Israel for the car-bomb assassination of controversial Lebanese cabinet minister Elie Hobeika, more evidence is emerging to suggest the government of Syria had the means, motive and opportunity, according to analysts for the Middle East Intelligence Bulletin. The Middle East intelligence service reveals Hobeika’s political position in Lebanon was compromised following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on America.

Hobeika, the former intelligence chief of the Lebanese militia group responsible for the Sabra and Chatilla refugee camp massacres in 1982, reportedly attempted to work with the CIA to help locate Osama bin Laden ally Imad Mughniyah – listed on the U.S.’s most-wanted terrorist list.

But, according to MEIB sources, the Syrians, who occupy Lebanon and impose their will on the Beirut government, discovered Hobeika’s attempts to contact the CIA. Just weeks ago, Lebanese Prosecutor-General Adnan Addoum opened an investigation into corruption at the Ministry of Electricity and Water Resources, which Hobeika had headed.

There were reports that two of Hobeika's associates, Fadi Saroufim and Rudy Baroudi, would be called in for questioning. The practice of opening and closing judicial files has been an important method used by the Syrians, who engineered Addoum's appointment, to reward or punish Lebanese politicians, according to MEIB sources.

During the last month of his life, Hobeika was extremely distraught due to the steadily escalating measures taken against him by the Syrian-backed regime in Beirut. During the funeral of a close ally and confidante, former MP Jean Ghanem, who died Jan. 14 from injuries sustained in a car crash in Hazmieh, Hobeika told several people that the latter's death was not accidental. Prior to his death, Hobeika was considering leaving Lebanon, MEIB reports.

Earlier in January, according to an informed Lebanese source, one of the bodyguards who died in the Jan. 24 attack (Mitri Ajram) told a friend in France that things were not going well for Hobeika and that he might take refuge in another country. Indeed, Hobeika had prepared for this contingency -- his brother, Charles, recently emigrated to Canada and reportedly brought with him a large portion of Hobeika's fortune. In addition, two of his key aides left Lebanon last year to set up overseas businesses -- Joseph al-Asmar in Tanzania and Fadi Saroufim in Kuwait.

In November, Lebanese press reports indicated that the senior leadership positions in his Lebanese Forces Party had been decided – and Hobeika had been passed over. Hobeika also attempted to meet with Christian opponents of the Syrian occupation in east Beirut. But Hobeika’s sudden reversal – from one who had collaborated with the Syrians for years -- was met with suspicion and distrust and it does not appear that anything came of it, according to MEIB sources.

At 9:30 a.m. Jan. 24, Hobeika and three bodyguards left his apartment in suburban Hazmieh southeast of the capital en route to his office in Sin al-Fil.

Shortly after their departure, the blue Range Rover they were driving slowed down to pass by a Mercedes parked on the side of a narrow road. At that instant, an estimated 22 pounds of TNT in the Mercedes suddenly detonated (apparently by remote control). The explosion reportedly catapulted the former warlord's charred remains over sixty meters from the wrecked SUV, killed a bystander and injured six others. The blast blackened neighboring apartment buildings, destroyed dozens of cars parked nearby, and even shattered glass windows up to one kilometer away from the scene.

Within hours of the assassination, Lebanese Interior Minister Elias Murr held a press conference and announced authorities had "confirmation that Israel and its agents were behind this terrorist act."

According to MEIB, however, the most important piece of evidence is the fact that the assassination took place at Hobeika's residence in Hazmieh, an area heavily patrolled by Lebanese security forces because of its proximity to the Presidential Palace and the Defense Ministry, as well as the fact that many high-ranking military officers live there. It is also a major stronghold of Syrian intelligence. Planning an operation in this area would have been very difficult and risky unless the perpetrators had a go-ahead from Damascus.

“Contrary to widespread Arab and Western media speculation, however, Israel does not appear to have had a compelling motive to kill Hobeika, as there was no reason to believe that he would reveal credible new information about Israeli involvement in the massacre during his testimony in Belgium,” reports MEIB. Though Arab sources suggest he was going to testify against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in a Belgian lawsuit by survivors of Sabra and Chatilla, MEIB concludes his story would not have been taken seriously enough to threaten Israel.

MEIB’s conclusions mirror those of a Lebanese activist who last week spoke out in defense of Sharon. While MEIB sources do not believe the Syrian government would have carried out the assassination of Hobeika itself, they suggest Damascus is the most likely sponsor of local groups – possibly even those associated with wanted terrorist Mughniyah.