BEIRUT, LEBANON (9:50 P.M.) – The newly elected Minister of Parliament Jamil El-Sayyed stated on Thursday that he had no role in the assassination former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, despite accusations by political opponents.

On the third and last day of his testimony at the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Sayyed accused the U.S. and Israel of carrying out the assassination in order to force the Syria to leave the country.

“The U.S. and Israel were behind the assassination of martyr premier Rafik Hariri,” al-Sayyed told the STL, noting that “it was his assassination that led to Syria’s withdrawal from Lebanon and not (U.N. Security Council) Resolution 1559.”

Sayyed would then lash out at the tribunal, saying that they are being biased.

“The tribunal is a political tribunal… In Iraq George Bush and Tony Blair killed 1.5 million Iraqis under the excuse of weapons of mass destruction and they displaced 10 million Iraqis. Don’t they deserve a trial?” al-Sayyed continued.

On Thursday, he told the tribunal that “through the elections and the extension for the (then-)president (Emile Lahoud), Hariri was bestowing legitimacy on the Syrian presence, Lahoud and the Resistance.”

“This all is a reason for Israel to assassinate him, because had Hariri stayed alive, all the events that happened later would not have happened,” the MP stated.

“I came to the court to defend two things: the right of the Lebanese to know the truth and my personal right. The Lebanese people have the right to know the truth but not according to the method of March 14 and its sympathizers, and also not through the STL, which approaches things in a politicized manner. The truth cannot be reached through false witnesses but rather through the presence of conclusive evidence.”

“Why was the international investigation misled for four years and who had an interest in that? Twelve false witnesses misled the investigation into Hariri’s assassination and the court is saying that that does not fall under its jurisdiction,” the former spy chief added.

An altercation happened at the end of Thursday’s session when al-Sayyed approached the Prosecution’s representative to shake hands with him.

“You have no manners and you don’t deserve to be respected,” al-Sayyed told the representative when he refused to shake his hand.

Sources: NNA, Naharnet