Former Syrian VP confirms that Syria threatend Harriri

Not everyone in Syria tows the protect Bashar line anymore: Former Syrian Vice President Abdul-Halim Khaddam, a one-time stalwart of the ruling Baath Party, said on Friday that former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri was threatened by Syria months before he was assassinated. [...]

Khaddam made the claim as he declared a formal break with President Bashar Assad in a television interview from Paris, criticizing the regime and citing corruption and its failure to reform.

"Hariri was subjected to many threats from Syria. ...Serious things were said. Once he was summoned to Damascus ... and spoken to in extremely harsh words by President Bashar Assad," Khaddam said in the interview with Al-Arabiya, the pan-Arab satellite broadcaster, his first since he left Syria several months ago.

[...]

He quoted the Syrian president as telling Hariri, months before he was killed: "You want to bring a (new) president in Lebanon. ... I will not allow that. I will crush whoever attempts to overturn our decision."

The Syrians , in turn, have responded. Well, kinda... In Syria, government officials could not be immediately reached for comment. But pro-government observers were quick to criticize Khaddam's disclosures.

"It is strange that he's criticizing government behavior when he was part of it," said George Jabbour, a legislator for the Baath party. "Why now? ... And how an official who dedicated his life to his country makes these statements?" asked political analyst Ahmed Haj Ali.

I smell a conspiracy. Someone is behind this. Must be the Jews! Update: Raja thinks this couldn't have happend at a better time. I agree.