Note : Dubious wordings are shown in bold italic.
The Associated Press, June 30, 2011, by Bassem Mroue and Elizabeth A. Kennedy, started the confusion with, "One of the people named is Mustafa Badreddine, believed to have been Hezbollah's deputy military commander. He is the brother-in-law of the late Hezbollah military commander Imad Mughniyeh."
The Lebanon journals were first out of the gate and set the pace for dubious information.
Ya Libnan, Mustafa Badreddine is main Hezbollah suspect in Hariri's murder
June 30, 2011. They reported, "Mustafa Badreddine, the brother in-law of assassinated Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyah, is the prime suspect in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005. Badreddine replaced Mugniyah as Hezbollah's chief operations officer after he was killed in a mysterious explosion in Syria on Feb. 12, 2008. The 50-year old is a member of the Hezbollah Shura Council."
The Daily Star, July 1, 2011 accompanied Ya with, "Four members of Hezbollah, including a senior military commander, were accused Thursday of the 2005 assassination of former statesman Rafik Hariri, as the U.N.-backed court probing the crime issued its first indictment to authorities in Beirut.
"Badreddine, Hezbollah's military commander, was accused of masterminding the plot to kill Hariri. Ayyash, another senior party official, was accused of carrying out the attack, the source added."
Credit to The Los Angeles Times, July 01, 2011, By Alexandra Sandels and Patrick J. McDonnell, for being more, but not entirely objective, "The identities of the four suspects were not released, and the indictment remained sealed. But local news reports suggested all four were Lebanese nationals linked to Hezbollah, a major militia and political party backed by Iran and Syria."
Soon the narratives gained their own lives.
The Hague Justice Portal, July l, 2011, added its own interpretations from unofficial information. "Multiple media reports stated that those indicted were high-ranking Hezbollah members, including Mustafa Badreddine, the head of external operations and cousin of the deceased prominent Hezbollah official Imad Mughnieh."
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