Interpol issued so-called Red Notices on Saturday against four Hezbollah operatives over the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. According to Lebanon's Daily Star newspaper, the alerts provide full details of the suspects' identities, including the false identities they use. They also provide criminal backgrounds, additional arrest warrants, and detailed descriptions of the suspects, aimed at leading to their arrest. The Iranian-backed Shiite Hezbollah denies the men's involvement in the Hariri killing and says they will not be handed over.
The notices, issued in coordination with the Netherlands-based Special Tribunal for Lebanon, established to investigate the assassination, are not arrest warrants, but are requests for arrest ahead of extradition.
They are equivalent to "Wanted" posters and constitute the international police force's "highest-level international alerts."
The names of the four suspects have not been officially disclosed, but unofficial reports in the media named them as Mustafa Badereddine (the brother-in-law of Hezbollah's assassinated military leader Imad Mughniyeh), Sami Issa, Selim Ayyash and Assad Sabra.
