Witness says Assad threatened Hariri

AP via CNN:

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, citing corruption within the regime and its failure to reform.

"Hariri was subjected to many threats from Syria," Khaddam said in the interview with Al-Arabiya, the pan-Arab satellite broadcaster, his first since he left Syria several months ago. "Dangerous things were said."

He added that Hariri was once summoned to Damascus, the Syrian capital, "and spoken to in extremely harsh words by President Bashar Assad."

A U.N. probe into Hariri's killing has implicated Syria, but Damascus has denied the allegations. (Read about the probe pointing to top officials)

Khaddam became a Syrian vice president in 1984 and resigned in June. He was the nominal leader in Syria for a short period after Assad's father, Hafez Assad, died in June 2000.

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