Sources close to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon have revealed that investigators now believe Hezbollah was linked to the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, German weekly magazine ‘Der Spiegel’ reported on its website on Saturday.

The magazine reported sources close to the investigation saying the breakthrough came when it was discovered that one man, who was in possession of a mobile phone linked to the assassination, called his girlfriend once from the ‘hot’ phone number. It was enough to identify the man, the magazine reported, who is believed to be Abd al-Majid Ghamlush, from the town of Rumin, who is a Hezbollah member. Ghamlush was also identified as the buyer of the mobile phones linked to the attack and has since disappeared.

The suspect led investigators to Hajj Salim, 45, who they now suspect was the mastermind behind the assassination, ‘Der Spiegel’ reported. It added that Salim is now considered to be the commander of the military wing of Hezbollah and lives in South Beirut.

The magazine also cited sources close to the tribunal saying that investigators have discovered that a Hezbollah member obtained the Mitsubishi truck used in the attack and have also been able to trace the origins of the explosives, more than 1,000 kilograms of TNT, C4 and hexogen.

A spokesperson from the Special Tribunal refused to comment on the accusations. 

"We don't know where they are getting the story from. The office of the prosecutor doesn't comment on any issues related to operational aspects of the investigation," the spokeswoman said.

-NOW Staff, with AFP