Syria Asks Sharjah to Arrest Siddiq and Extradite Him
Mohammed Zuhair Siddiq, a Syrian army deserter often described by the Arab media as the “King Witness” in the Hariri murder case, was reportedly arrested in the United Arab Emirates.
Reliable sources told As Safir newspaper that Syria lately asked the authorities of the Sharjah emirate through Interpol to arrest Siddiq and extradite him.
The sources said the man had a forged Syrian passport and was living in the city of Sharjah.
As Safir on Saturday quoted sources following the Siddiq case as saying several arrest warrants were issued in Lebanon and Syria against the man for providing false testimonies in the assassination case of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri.
The sources also said that Siddiq had lately become a burden on the political sides that at one stage were providing cover for him. Even sources in the Lebanese majority expected Siddiq to be jailed after it turned out that he was a "big lie."
Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar told LBC TV station that the Lebanese government has no information about Siddiq”s arrest.
Siddiq, who was under an international arrest warrant requested by a Lebanese prosecutor, was detained in October 2005 in a Paris suburb on grounds he gave false evidence to U.N. investigators.
He had been living in France under house arrest until he disappeared a year ago.
Newspaper reports in 2006 quoted Siddiq as saying that Syrian President Bashar Assad and his then Lebanese counterpart Emile Lahoud ordered Hariri”s killing in a massive Beirut car bombing.
King witness legally means an accomplice in a crime who turns against his partners, revealing their role in exchange for state pardon.