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Tests indicate Hariri killer was man aged 20-25, not Lebanese
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent and DPA

Forensic testing has determined that the suicide bomber in the slaying of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was probably a man between the ages of 20 and 25 who was not from Lebanon, investigators said in a new report Monday.

The report said it was following many new leads in Hariri's slaying. Some focus has shifted toward investigating those who participated in the crime, it said.

"The commission has identified a considerable number of new leads for investigation relating to the crime scene, its vicinity and the immediate perpetration of the crime," the report said.
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Investigators have found 32 pieces of remains from the person believed to be the attacker, who was likely between 20-25 years old, the report said.

Evidence found at the scene of the blast also included a tooth, probably of the bomber, which featured an unspecified "distinguishing mark" on its crown suggesting he may not have been from Lebanon, the report said.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said that it looked like Top UN investigator Serge Brammertz was solidifying evidence to the point where he would be ready to present it in court.

"He is getting closer and closer to trial, closer and closer to a point where he is ready for a trial," Bolton said.

The team investigating the killing said on Monday that Syria is not fully cooperating with the efforts to investigate Hariri's murder.

The investigators said that the level of the Syrians' cooperation "varies" and that it depends on the matter they are asked to discuss.

Brammertz insists in his report that investigators would continue to pursue "full cooperation" from the Syrian authorities.

However, Brammertz says that Syria has offered "satisfactory" cooperation in the probe of the murder of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri, according to a report handed over on Monday to the head of the United Nations.

A copy of the report sent to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was also sent to Lebanon's general prosecutor, Saeed Mirza, late on Monday, and some of the report's content were leaked to the press.

According to a Lebanese governmental source, the report was purely "technical." The document is to be released to the public after Annan relays it to the 15-member Security Council.

Brammertz says in his report that Syria's cooperation with the UN investigators since June "was in general satisfactory," according to the source.

UN investigators carried out 11 interviews inside Syria, including with Syrian officials, as part of the framework of the investigation, the report says. It also indicated that all the meetings inside Syria had been set up by the Syrian authorities.

Hariri was killed in a massive bomb blast using 1,800 kilograms of highly explosive material that also killed 20 others on the Beirut seafront in February 2005.

A report by Brammertz's predecessor, Detlev Mehlis, implicated senior officials from Syria in the assassination. Damascus was the power broker in its smaller neighbor for decades until it withdrew its military under extreme international pressure.

Hariri's assassination and the ensuing international outcry contributed to that pressure. Syria withdraw its troops from Lebanon on April 26, 2005, ending its 30-year-long presence. Syria has so far denied any link to the assassination of Hariri.

Last June, the council extended the mandate of the UN panel headed by Belgian prosecutor Brammertz until 2007, at the request of the Lebanese government.

Brammertz' earlier report cited "greater cooperation" from Syria and backed a Lebanese request for extending the UN probe.

Brammertz' current report also cites "potential linkages" between his probe of the Hariri assassination and other attacks targeting anti-Syrian Lebanese figures.

After the Hariri assassination, Lebanon was hit by around 14 explosions that included assassinations and assassination attempts mainly targeting anti-Syrian Lebanese figures, as well as bomb attacks on commercial sectors, especially in Christian areas.
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