DUBAI, Feb 14 (AFP) - A previously unknown Islamist group claimed it was behind the Beirut bomb blast Monday that killed former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, in a videotape shown on Al-Jazeera television.
An-Nosra wal Jihad fi Bilad al-Sham (Victory and Jihad in Greater Syria) said it carried out what it called the suicide attack because of Hariri's close ties with the Saudi regime, but it provided no proof of the claim.
Hariri and nine other people were killed in a massive explosion against his motorcade near the Beirut seafront.
The video broadcast by the Qatar-based satellite station showed a young man with a long beard and wearing a black turban reading a statement in front of a black banner marked with the group's name and the Muslim profession of faith.
An assailant named Ahmed Abu Adas carried out the attack on Hariri's convoy"because of his relations with the Saudi authorities", he said.
"To avenge our mujahedeen (Islamic fighter) brothers ... killed by the Saudi regime's security forces, we have decided to inflict the just punishment on the agent and dirty instrument of this regime in greater Syria," the man said.
"This martyr operation is a foretaste of numberous other operations which we will carry out against the infidels, apostates and tyrants in Greater Syria," he said.
Hariri, a self-made billionaire, had close business ties with the Saudi royal family and was a frequent visitor to the oil-rich Gulf state which has been a key financial backer of Lebanon.
The Saudi government condemned his killing as a "terrorist act".
Al-Jazeera spokesman Jihad Ballout declined to say how the station had obtained the video, which he said lasted just 39 seconds.
02/14/2005 18:07 GMT - AFP