Vocal Recording of Awad Confessing to Killing Hajj

Source: Ad-Diyar, 20-12-2008
More than one year on the assassination of Brigadier General Francois al-Hajj, investigations into the case seem to have progressed and important threads that could lead to the identity of the murderers seem to have been reached.
Lebanese daily Ad-Diyar quoted on Saturday sources close to the investigation as saying that the mastermind behind the assassination scheme was Fatah al-Islam leader, Abdul Rahman Awad, who is thought to be now hiding in Ain al-Hilweh.
The sources noted that the security forces had voice recordings of Awad and Shaker al-Absi, in which Awad confesses to killing al-Hajj, just following the assassination has been done.
Furthermore, Ad-Diyar quoted well-informed sources as revealing that the assassination of Major Wissam Eid is probably directly linked to the investigations into Hajj's assassination. The sources said that Eid might have reached essential data concerning the plotters and murderers, which led to his assassination in order to torpedo the investigations.
General Francois al-Hajj, who used to head the Lebanese Army Operations department, was assassinated on December 12, 2007, in an explosion that occurred in the Baabda area east of Beirut. Hajj had headed the grounded operations at the Nahr el-Bared camp, which ended in September with the army defeating the Fatah al-Islam militants.
One month later, and precisely on January 25, 2008, Major Wissam Eid was assassinated along with his bodyguard Osama Mereb and three civilians in east Beirut. Eid, 31, who was promoted posthumously from captain to major, was Lebanon's top anti-terrorism investigator, and was involved in probes related to a spate of killings in recent years that targeted Lebanese politicians and figures.