By Patrick Galey

BEIRUT: Interpol issued international arrest warrants Wednesday against those accused of the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the international police organization announced.
“The Red Notices, the first issued by Interpol on behalf of the [Special Tribunal for Lebanon], have been circulated to all 188 member countries and include essential identifying information such as photographs and fingerprints of the wanted persons,” a statement from its Lyon headquarters said.

The U.N.-backed STL issued its first indictment earlier in July, a document thought to contain the names of four Hezbollah operatives, as well as several non-Lebanese. The indictment was sealed and the tribunal has refused to speculate on where the suspects are currently residing.
STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare has said Interpol’s involvement in the search for suspects would increase the chances of their apprehension.
Red Notices are secret to the public, and ask member states to track down accused individuals while preventing them from leaving the country.

“The two steps taken by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, firstly ensuring that these individuals were entered into Interpol’s databases and secondly their request for Red Notices will significantly restrict the ability of these people to cross international borders to try and avoid detection and is a powerful tool to help in their location and arrest,” said Interpol secretary-general Ronald Noble.
“We have and will continue to closely cooperate with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in their efforts to identify and bring to justice those responsible for the assassination of Rafik Hariri.”