U.N. Commission to Question Koleilat Monday
| The U.N. commission investigating ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination will question fugitive banker Rana Koleilat on Monday, the Brazilian foreign ministry has said.Koleilat, who is under investigation for a multimillion-dollar fraud at Al Madina bank where she once worked, was arrested in Sao Paulo on March 12, 2006 for allegedly trying to bribe police officers who located her for Interpol.“A U.N. commission wanting to know what she knows about Hariri’s assassination is scheduled to question her on Monday,” said a foreign ministry spokesman. He said Koleilat will most likely be questioned at the Sao Paulo headquarters of the federal police where she is being held.
U.N. investigators want to ask Koleilat about whether money that disappeared from the bank was used to finance the February 2005 bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others. Koleilat has told police and her lawyer she knows nothing about the missing money or the assassination of Hariri. The foreign ministry spokesman also said the Brazilian government turned down Koleilat’s request for political asylum and that Lebanon’s request for her extradition is still being processed. Al Mustaqbal daily reported Tuesday that Brazil’s highest federal court has asked the U.N. commission to interrogate Koleilat. It said Magistrate Eros Grao has set April 30, 2007 for her questioning by the panel, pending Brazil’s approval for Koleilat’s extradition. The newspaper also said that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has issued a presidential decree authorizing Brazilian authorities to cooperate with the U.N. commission.(AP-Naharnet) |
| Beirut, 27 Apr 07 |
