Syria on Monday had reportedly handed over to Lebanon the stolen car used in the Nov. 2006 assassination of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.

The daily As Safir, citing a well-informed security source, said the broken down Honda VRC was found abandoned on the international highway linking Syria with Turkey.

The source said that after Syrian customs suspected the car had been registered in Lebanon, they informed Lebanon Interpol about it.

After exchanging information about the car, it had been confirmed that the Honda originated from Lebanon and that its owner had been compensated for his stolen vehicle, As Safir said.

It said an insurance company officer was dispatched to the Syrian customs department where he took delivery of the car.

The paper said the insurance company, in turn, handed over the Honda VCR to the Internal Security Forces' intelligence bureau and that after thorough examination, it was confirmed that the vehicle was used in Gemayel's murder.

As Safir said that investigation with Lebanese suspect Mohammed Merhi uncovered that Fatah al-Islam had a hand in the murder of Gemayel, scion of Lebanon's most prominent Christian family and a leading opponent of Syria, who was gunned down near Beirut Nov. 22, 2006.

An Nahar on Saturday, based on interrogation with Fatah al-Islam detainees, said that the "executor" of the Gemayel crime was the al-Qaida-inspired terrorist group led by Shaker Abssi.

As Safir's report came a few days after reliable sources informed of the investigation told Naharnet that Ahmed Jibril's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command played a role in the crime.

The sources told Naharnet that the Honda VCR was stolen from the mountain resort of Brummana in October 2006 and taken to an area in the northern sector of the eastern Bekaa valley where car bandits operate.

Shortly after that, a member of Jibril's Syrian-backed PFLP-GC approached the gang and bartered the car for a quantity of weapons, the sources added.

The car was used in the assassination of Gemayel in suburban Jdaideh, almost a month after it was stolen from Brummana, the sources told Naharnet.

They said that the Honda was later driven to Syria, which turned it back to Lebanon in Dec. 2006 in line with a warrant issued by the Interpol.

As Safir said that initial inspection of the car showed that the Honda's roof had been hit by a bullet.

Several Lebanese license plates were also found in the trunk, while two license plates belonging to an unidentified Gulf nation were mounted in the front and rear of the Honda, it said.

Judicial sources told As Safir that the international committee investigating the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri and related crimes had requested to examine the fingerprints of two Fatah al-Islam militants killed during raids in north Lebanon last month, including that of Abu Yazan.

It said examination results matched the fingerprints found on bullet shells used in the Gemayel murder. 

 Nahar Net