Initial Reactions to the Assassination of Former Lebanese President Rafiq Al-Hariri

Lebanese commentator Faysal Abd Al-Sattar: Who stands to profit? Undoubtedly, Israel and its supporters in the region are the ones who profit most from this event. In addition, Israel may have perpetrated this act or recruited some agents or apparatus to do so. This is not alien to the Israeli policy of targeting the stability of the Arab region, particularly of Lebanon, in past years.

Lebanese commentator 'Iqab Safar:We must distinguish between the questions 'Who profited' and 'Who perpetrated' because there may be many parties who profit from the murder of Raqif al-Hariri, both external parties and internal ones. I hope there will not be any 'heroes' or 'wise guys' who hasten to accuse the Israeli enemy of the murder of Rafiq al-Harari--or the Israeli Mossad. We must wait and see what evidence the investigation uncovers.

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Interviewer:There are some people who say that Israel is behind this assassination. Can this be?
Hassan Nafe'a, Cairo University Research Center:It's definitely possible. The Mossad agents have a lot of experience in this field, but this accusation will not be established before the Lebanese authorities find proof of this. In my opinion, this direction of investigation would be completely justified.