be the hero the world needs right now. washing. the earth things. a special tribunal convenes to decide a verdict on the assassination of lebanon's former prime minister rafik hariri. i'm about this and this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up. testers in bellows heckled president alexander lukashenko none the main opposition

leader is calling on the military to switch sides. we have got to do everything we can to elect my friend joe biden as the next president of the united states democrats rally us voters to support their presumptive presidential candidate joe biden at an online party convention. angry and exhausted by months of locked on argentinians take over the streets of listeners. it's taken 15 years and now a un biased court is finally delivering a verdict relating to the assassination of former lebanese prime minister rafiq hardy he died along with 21 others in a car bomb attack in 2005 the 4 defendants are members of the armed group hezbollah which denies involvement in the attack they won't be appearing in court then

a court of reports. it's been 15 years since former prime minister rafiq head 80 was assassinated in a suicide car bombing in beirut 21 others were also killed in an act that changed the face of lebanon. the special international tribunal investigating the case is due to deliver its verdict the accused are known members of hezbollah a lebanese armed group backed by iran prosecutors have based their case on evidence of a phone network that monitored haddadi months before his death that went dark following his murder they say the former prime minister was working to free lebanon from syria's domination and the killing was politically motivated the prosecutors say the suspects are linked to some assassinations mainly of opponents of syrian president bashar assad that include the failed attempt on the life of former minister marwan mehdi what was a serial murder of the political class. targeted the people who

gathered on the 14th of march or those who expressed one position to bashar the regime to they knew that the policy of syria was to pave the way for iranian bret being influence in lebanon. the balance of power is now in favor of hezbollah whose armed wing is considered a terrorist organization by the west and the arab league secretary general has denied any role in the killing and questioned the legitimacy of the tribunals before indictments were issued. called it an israeli us tool and vowed to never hand over the suspects the lebanese government i don't think. it will say that it's not within its capacity to arrest those people that means the tribunals should refer the case to the un security council but that divided and

lacks the means to deliver a guilty verdict and has allies control political and military power in the country in 2011 they did topple the cabinet of. because he refused to stop cooperating with the tribe you know. a part he was considered the leader of the muslim community who suspected assassins belong to a group a conviction is unlikely to heal divisions but given hezbollah's perceived control of the government it could affect lebanon's international relations. pictures of that special tribunal which is being held close to the hague let's just defend their opening up with some procedural issues the moment that's what they're going to say. to anybody who is not in the courtroom but nonetheless participating . starting with prosecutors. thank you. for your

honors good morning good morning to my learned colleagues both in the courtroom and to those who are watching remotely appearing for the prosecution on norman farrow with me as a deputy prosecutor madam joyce tibet and counsel mr nigel polis and mr mark to sally in our case manager is appearing remotely thank you. i asked if it. was a good morning to all your honor thank you tom had us in the courtroom with me is my left stephanie erin on the right to her is back on the big screen. need counsel me alone in the lower right and co-counsel. as i say this is the opening of the proceedings in the hague in the special tribunal into the killing of iraq because the let's talk to a holder who's live for us in beirut the grave of rafik hariri just talk us through

what this means for lebanon. well 1st of all you have the families of the victims it is a moment of truth they have been demanding justice and it's not just them many lebanese have been demanding justice and accountability the killing of her fickle heidi and his bodyguards as well as another minister really was a political earthquake it divided the country is polarized nation and ever since that day there has been political instability but the court the tribe you know there is no consensus in lebanon there are some lebanese who believe that this court is politicize this is in fact what hezbollah the group whose members have been indicted in the killing they have been saying that the court is a political tool used by the united states and israel what they've been trying to do really is try to discredit the outcome of any verdict but there is. other

lebanese who believe that for the 1st time there will be accountability this is a country that has seen many assassinations bombings that have gone on punished over over the years so they are hoping that this is an international investigation a test of made clear this is the 1st time an assassination or a political killing has been tried in an international court so they believe that this time around those who are responsible for this crime will be punished but this verdict is symbolic at least for now because those who are accused are being tried in absentia and so and hezbollah has made very very clear that they will. not hand over the suspects to the international court in fact they've called them our brothers and in the words of the hezbollah secretary general hossam not just a few days ago he said that you know this sentence is going to be unjust and we

will maintain the innocence of these people so this killing and the consequent and the court is really polarized the nation and any verdict guilty or not is not going to heal the divisions and it will not make it so all of the political instability in this country then and thanks very much as stay with us i want to take our viewers back to the scenes inside the special tribunal at the hague at the moment we're going through the process of introducing everybody in the court we understand that saad hariri. served 3 terms as prime minister is in court and has been introduced to the court let's listen in to what's happening right now 19 years of age in the lurch in germany. trying to wilkens you the victims to the proceedings and thank you very much for coming and again we extend sympathy for the loss which no doubt you are still suffering. and turning to the judgment. just before.

1 o'clock 1 pm on monday the 14th of february 2005 the former prime minister of lebanon mr rafik hariri was traveling in his convoy in beirut between the lebanese parliament and his home currington palace as it approached decent job his hotel near the coast in beirut a massive explosion was disconnected mr hariri was killed in the blast. $21.00 others including 8 members of mr hariri convoy and innocent bystanders also died. 3 of the victims died after the explosion too on the following day and the 3rd the lebanese member of parliament mr bacile full a hand succumbed to lying in a coma for 2 months at least another 226 people were injured some very seriously people passing in the street and working in nearby buildings sustained terrible

injuries many buildings were badly damaged. the explosion was triggered by a suicide bomber in a it's a busy canta at a light top poland covered truck loaded with more than 2 tons of high grade explosives the detonated as mr hariri was heavily protected 6 vehicle convoy passed the st george's hotel. the explosives had the equivalent of 2500 to 3000 kilograms of t.n.t. . the explosion left a crater in the road over 10 meters wide and almost to 2 meters deep mr hariri and his convoy had been under surveillance for some months before the assassination. those engaged in the surveillance who were communicating in the field using a 3 sets of mobile telephone networks to distinguish the 3 networks the prosecution labeled them as the yellow blue and red networks. the red network was the s

s a nation team the uses of the blue and red network mobiles communicated only with each other. another network labeled as the green network of 3 mobiles was alleged to have coordinated and monitored all aspects of the operation targeting mr hariri which eventually resulted in his death. the accused salim jim ely ash has a bid me high and the former accused mustafa i mean a better day in our lives to have been members of this 3 mobile network mr i ask is also alleged to have used a raid network mobile. in the months before the attack network mobiles had followed mr hariri as he traveled around lebanon. this included his trips to beirut airport to his villa in fact north of beirut to israel though at 9 am a south of beirut when he visited mosques and churches when he made hezbollah as

secretary general in south beirut when he went to the parliament and when he had lunch and dinner engagements the network mobiles also engaged in statics violence nicorette and palace and along some of the routes he travelled. the aim of this violence was to obtain information about mr hariri he's movements his security detail his level of protection and eventually to determine a suitable method to murder him including finding an appropriate location for the intended attack. mystery's convoy was a quip with electronic jammers that would have blocked the remote detonation of any explosive fuss a vehicle borne improvised explosive device or the b i e d in the form of a suicide bomber driving a lot truck loaded with explosives that he could still flee self self detonate was

chosen for the attack shortly after the explosion on the afternoon of monday the 14th of february 2005 the al-jazeera news network in beirut received calls claiming responsibility for the attack and saying that a video was in a nearby tree and al-jazeera employee cautiously retrieved the package with a video and letter from the tree. 3 calls were made to al-jazeera with the last being a menacing cold exploiting the immediate broadcast of the video the colas had also 1st contacted reuters in by route. 2 of the accused hussein hassan nessie and assad sabra were alleged to have made these coals and 2 and to have observed the video collection from the tree in the video which al jazeera broadcast later that afternoon a young palestinian man mr ahmed. claimed to represent

a fundamentalist group called the tree and jihad in greater syria unquote. and who they could secure today quote resoundingly moderate an operation unquote against mr hariri as an agent of what was described as the infidels saudi regime the attached letta claimed that the suicide operation was carried out by quote the more would you had. unquote for the prosecution term this as a false claim of responsibility for the attack on mr hariri and indeed it was the group is fictional and mr abu adust did not kill himself in the explosion he was not the suicide bomber missed a couple of dusts a religious 22 year old disappeared from his home in beirut on the morning of sunday the 16th of january 2005 and his family has not seen him since

presumably he is no longer alive mr nessie and mr sabur are alleged to have arranged his disappearance by recruiting him at a mosque in beirut in the proceeding weeks in general 2005. the successful attack on mr hariri was carefully planned and implemented the 6. network mobile users were responsible for mr hariri mota on the 14th affair be 2005 . the yellow blue and red mobile network mobile uses observed mr hariri and his convoys movements in the weeks and months before the attack some members of the red network also used blue and or yellow network mobiles on the day of the attack the red mobile uses observe the mysterious movements at the parliament and were present there and near the crime scene shortly before the explosion. they also

coordinated the mitsubishi cantors movement towards the convoy the red network uses made their final kohls in the minutes before the attack and these anonymous mobiles were never used again the false claim of responsibility video was aimed at diverting attention away from the true perpetrators the attack was an act of terrorism that was designed to spread fear among the lebanese population it was committed full political and not personal reasons. who were the accused before accused. she was born on the 10th of november 963 in her roof lebannon as sam had beeb a born on the 12th of december 965 in beirut hussein has son who was born in beirut on the 11th of february $964.00 and.

sabra also born in beirut and his date of birth is the 15th of october night in 76 a 5th and film accused stuff i mean battered in who was also known as sami issa. and is alleged to have been a coconspirator was born in beirut on the 6th of april 9 16115 the prosecutor alleged supporters of the hezbollah a lebanese political and military organization. the amended consolidated indictment contained 9 counts alleging crimes committed contrary to the lebanese criminal code the crimes are of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act by means of an explosive device committing a terrorist act by means of an explosive device the intentional homicide of mr hariri and all the $21.00 of those the attempted intentional homicide of the

$226.00 people injured in the blast and is being accomplices to these crimes the prosecutor allege that each of the 4 accused mr bedridden participated in the conspiracy they had the following plated roles in the attack one was stuff and main monitored and together with salim jim eli ash coordinated the surveillance of mr hariri in preparation for the attack including the purchase of the mitsubishi canta he also monitored the physical probe perpetration of the attack and monitored with hassan had been. the coordination of the preparation of the false claim of responsibility to. with mustafa i mean better dean coordinated the surveillance surveillance of mr hariri in preparation of the attack including the purchase of the canta he communicated

with us on how bad the matter high in relation to preparations for the attack including the false claim of responsibility he coordinated the physical perpetration of the attack and participated in carrying out the surveillance and assassination. 3. who are sane has anonymity and assad has sabra under mr hise coordination the dissipated in identifying a suitable person to use in a videotaped false claim of responsibility for the attack namely mr abu address. immediately after the attack they disseminated statements voles lee attributing responsibility for the attack and showed the delivery of the video and attached let it out jazeera and then ensured its broadcast. this too is under mr coordination mr additionally and under mr coordination

allegedly participated in missed his disappearance for the purpose of creating a false claim of responsibility. 4th and finally mr hasan had been high with most of i'm in metric better dean is alleged to have coordinated the false claim of responsibility and at times was in communication with assad sabra for this purpose. he coordinated mr and mrs and mr summers activities in identifying and affecting the disappearance of a suitable person mr abu adust who would be used in the video immediately after the attack he coordinated their activities in disseminating statements falsely attributing responsibility for the attack ensuring the delivery of the video and attach letter to al-jazeera and ensuring its broadcast. mr n.s.e. and mr sabra according to the prosecutor used to post no mobiles to communicate

with each other and mr high in relation to the false claim of responsibility. they stream 0 balls would term to the quote pople group unquote of mobiles mr badger again mr i asked mr mann hi were alleged to have communicated in the closed 3 mobile green network in which mr and mr mantei used a green mobiles only to communicate with mr barrett the prosecution attempted to prove that they were using the network mobiles based upon the colocation of the network my bowels with their own personal mobiles in other words that the personal and network my bowels made coles and travelled in a man a suggesting that they had a single user meaning that one person was using them the prosecution presented a vast quantity of documents and telecommunications evidence including the cold

data records of the calls made and sell side evidence of the cell towers activated by the my vols in attempting to prove 1st that the accused mr bad again were using the personal my balls alleged sickened that these were co-locating within that network my bowels and thirdly that the network mobiles were engaged in mr hariri surveillance and then he's assessing the nation the 4 accused and 5 while mr bedridden was an accused person on the indictment were tried in absentia that was after the trial chamber had decided that they were aware of the indictment and had absconded or otherwise could not be found. the trial chamber hood evidence from 269 prosecution witnesses 119 of whom gave live testimony in the courtroom all through video conference link. and it received the evidence

$150.00 witnesses through their witness through their written statements the total number of witnesses at trial was $297.00. the trial jan but would have protected measures to protect the identity of many witnesses including $46.00 witnesses who testified in court this was due to concern for their personal safety or that of their families it will also receive the evidence of 20 prosecution expert witnesses and in respect of identification procedures one and mysie defense expert witness. the trial chamber received over 3000 exhibits into evidence from the prosecution the defense and legal representatives of the participating victims the judgment is over 2600 pages with more than 13000 footnotes in addition we have also prepared and all thing tick and authoritative abbreviated summary of the judgment of around 150 pages that extracts the main findings and

crawford cross references them by footnote to the judgment this pronouncement today is a short summary to publicly explain the lengthy fully reasoned judgment which will be delivered at the conclusion of these proceedings today. turning to the sell side and the communications evidence in general the prosecution's case relied upon telecommunications evidence without this there was no case against for accused over the use of the investigation the investigators examined the records of millions of calls and text messages to find evidence of communications between mobiles from which patton's could be found this started with examining the records of the most used around the parliament and the crime scene area on the day of the attack on mr hariri the investigators initially from the lebanese investigating

authorities found a group of mobiles that were only communicating with each other. this group that came in came to be known as the red network had 8 balls they were all anonymous the sim cards were open just in tripoli in northern lebanon in late december early january 2005 and there were initial initialise there in tripoli within minutes of each other on 4th of january 2005 they credit was topped up in tripoli on the 2nd of february 5 handsets were bought together also in tripoli in late december 2004. the 6 principal my boss and his rig network all made their last call in the minutes calls in the minutes before the attack on mr hariri they were never used again after that this group of men of mobiles was completely anonymous there were no

coals outside the group and no takes was sent within it the only evidence the investigators had of the use was the cell towers to which they were connecting and when and which numbers they were calling from this they tried to find out who was using them and who were the calls the investigators that examined other mobiles that were in the same cell sicked is at or around the same time they were trying to find out if other mobiles were co-locating with the raid network mobiles they did what is called a quote cell dump and quite now that involves examining the records of all connections to specified cells and filtering for which mobiles are contacting each other or contacting others they look for patterns and then repeat this with target my balls in other cells that the mobiles connect to that we're trying to find where

the mobiles were doing what's called co-locating that co-locating simply means the mobiles a travelling together in such a manner that one person could be using more than one mobile. to illustrate a common example is of someone carrying both a work and personal mobile around with them in their pocket on their bag when to moloch mobiles are together they will connect to the same cell towers the mobo can be identified through the unique number of each handset and the sim card that every mobile has now normally we might expect that a work mob will be predominantly used during working hours and a personal mobile more frequently used out of work out and in different areas but whichever it is most people leave a distinct geographic signature when using their mobiles most people have bitterly use their mobiles in the same areas and for example don't use them at night when

they're at home asleep they may receive s.m.s. messages when they are not using the mobile because they are sleeping but the cell where the mobile is when it receives the text is recorded in the coal gotten records thus we can normally know where a mobile was during the night unless it was switched off the 1st use of a mobile in the morning and the last use at night leaves clues as to where the user is staying that night most people also have a pattern of contacts in who they cold text and message this to can provide clues as to who is using it if investigators have the mobile in the hands they can of course examine it for other clues such as notes photographs encrypted messages and so on but the investigators here only had the cell tower connections to go on. every cell tower has an area of what is called its predicted best coverage area

which is normally divided into 3 triangular cells on each tell all must. that simply means the place it is predicted that your mobile will connect to sell a as opposed to sell bait will still see each cell has its own name but this isn't an exact science as the predicted best coverage areas overlap especially around the edges meaning that your mobile competently connect more than one celled or the network is congested the coal may be directed to the next available cell which will be one of the cells surrounding the one that the mobile actually physically is in. to work out of my bowels of color coding requires some cell side expertise someone who

understands cell coverage areas the principles of radio propagation radio white propagation and how mobile networks operate these experts will examine the call patterns of the target mobiles to work out if it is possible and it is traced he a possible the to my balls could have a single user. sometimes no particular expertise is needed to work this out for example if to my balls always connect to the same cells that the same time every day or if 2 mobiles make separate calls in different cells but where it's possible to travel a distance between the cells in the time between the coals for example 2 cells to kilometers apart with cold made in each cell within 15 minutes of each other. but this can be far from straightforward as mobiles connect to cell towers by radio propagation. the radio waves from the cell in the mobile will hit and bounce off

buildings and hills and other geographical features and can take shortcuts cuts across water far from a predicted coverage area. this can make it difficult to pinpoint where the mobile is. the networks use their own predictive software to show the predictive best of the coverage of each cell tower they'd sell in a tower. this is for commercial reasons to provide the best coverage possible for their customers they can change the coverage area by adjusting the cell towers antenna by changing its angle up or down for instance or installing a relay station or in extreme circumstances a new cell tower. the predicted coverage areas also don't come in neat semi circular triangles rather because of topography including top buildings

these can be very patchy meaning the bits of the predicted coverage of still a can be in the middle of the predicted coverage area of the neighboring cell be. someone using a mobile on the eastern side of the 6 tori building could connect to a different cell to someone using it on the western side of the ground floor. the cell you connect to while walking in the street might not be the one that your mobile connects to while you are using it in the back garden of a house in the same street. so some expertise is required to interpret the call connections. and as a further eg complication the trial chamber received evidence that lebanon's alpha telecommunication networks predicted best server its coverage maps of 2004 in 2005

. covering indictment period to only around 60 to 70 percent accurate. now that's good enough for the network's commercial purposes but it's not good enough to pinpoint precisely where a mobile is so mobile its connection to a cell can only approximate where a mobile is and this is only to the extent that it will be most probably connecting to the cell the provides the predicted.