Maj. Saad Haddad, leader of the Israel-backed Christian militia in south Lebanon, emphatically denied today that any of his men participated in the west Beirut Sabra and Shatila refugee camps massacres of September 16-18 and charged that allegations to the contrary were a conspiracy by Christians and Moslems in Beirut to discredit his forces.
Haddad, testifying before the three-member commission of inquiry into the massacres, named former Lebanese Prime Minister Saeb Salam as the key figure in the alleged conspiracy. He claimed Salam knew the identities of the killers and was covering for them. “Salam and the local Mufti (Moslem religious leader) gave a declaration in order to deceive public opinion,” Haddad said.
Haddad said residents of the camps charged that his men were among the killers because all Lebanese forces wear the same uniform. He attributed their error to panic. He insisted that his troops were confined to south Lebanon and did not cross the Awali river, north of Sidon, under an agreement with the Israeli army.
He admitted that he was in the vicinity of Beirut on September 17 while the massacres were occurring, but accounted for his movements. He said he paid a condolence visit to the family of Lebanon’s President-elect Bashir Gemayel who was assassinated on September 14. The family home is in Bikfaya village 10 miles east of Beirut. Later, Haddad said, he went to Junia, 10 miles north of Beirut to visit “family” and returned to his home village of Marj Ayoun in the evening.
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