Syria issues arrest warrant for Lebanon’s ex-PM Hariri

DAMASCUS / ANKARA

Turkey establishes a total of 13 tent cities in addition to a container city in Kilis, which is capable of hosting 12,000 refugees. AFP photo

Damascus has issued a warrant for the arrest of Lebanese former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, accusing him of sending weapons to rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, the state SANA news agency reported yesterday.

“The state prosecutor in Damascus has issued arrest warrants against Saad Hariri and against Okab Sakr,” an opposition member of the Lebanese parliament, SANA said, according to Agence France-Presse. The warrants were issued after Lebanese media outlets close to al-Assad’s regime published wiretaps that apparently implicated Sakr in making arms shipments to Syrian rebels.

Bombs hit Interior Ministry

In Damascus, three bombs struck the main entrance of the Syrian Interior Ministry, state television reported, adding that one of the blasts was caused by a car bomb. Four people were killed and more than 20 wounded in bombings.

Meanwhile, the number of Syrians who have crossed into Turkey has exceeded 137,000, Interior Minister Beşir Atalay said on yesterday. “At the moment, there are 137,756 people who have taken shelter in Turkey after fleeing the conflict in Syria,” he said. The actual number is likely to be much higher since the official figures do not include the tens of thousands of Syrians who are unregistered and living in Turkish homes.