This is from Assafir, so take it with a grain of salt:
France was considering abolishing the re-enactment of the crime of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri after giving it a second thought, As-Safir newspaper reported Thursday. “After reviewing its accounts following questions over the need for and the benefit behind the reenactment on French territory, Paris was moving toward abolishing reenactment of the Hariri crime,” A French source told As-Safir.
Remember, only 5 days ago, more details emerged (French link) on the enactment like the exact location (The captieux military camp south of Bordeau) and the date (September 28). So if Assafir‘s source is correct, we’re talking about a major last-minute political intervention to cancel it, and that could not have come out of thin air.
There’s already a French denial that surfaced on LBC:
LBC television on Thursday, however, quoted French sources as denying that Paris is likely to abolish reenactment of the Hariri crime. The sources said such a decision is linked to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, not France.
Anyway, if you want real information on this, subscribe to Malbrunot’s blog. He’s Le Figaro’s point man on the matter
Hello, my name is Mustapha and I've been blogging about Lebanese society, business and politics since February 2005.
mustafa, thanks for this. i must say though, i’m a bit dis-oriented by the terminology you choose to use.
when quoting assafir (a respected local lebanese newspaper), you warn the reader to take the information with a “pinch of salt”. when referring to a figaro journalist, you promise the reader “real information”.
would you clarify on what premise you base such judgment?
You make a fair point [Jimmy] .
Of course, I never claimed I was an objective observer. I’m just a guy who’s open about the fact that I don’t trust Assafir and their convenient “anonymous sources”.
I would rather at any point get my information from a french newspaper’s blogger who’s actually on the scene.