CAIRO, February 15 (IslamOnline.net) – The assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri was more likely the work of state security agencies, an Egyptian expert in affairs of the Islamic political groups said Tuesday, February 15.

Meanwhile, Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam arrived in Beirut Tuesday to pay his last respects to Hariri, and held Israel accountable for Hariri’s grisly murder.

“The magnitude of the blast indicates that it was the work of state security agencies and not just militant groups surfacing every now and then,” Egyptian expert, Diaa Rashwan, told IslamOnline.net Tuesday, February 15.

He stressed that the claim of the massive attack by a previously unknown group was a bid to distract attention away from the real perpetrators.

“The Group for Advocacy and Holy War in the Levant, which claimed responsibility for Hariri killing, was an invention of the parties behind the horrendous crime.

“The perpetrators of this crime made the best use of the terrorism bugaboo, which is rearing its ugly head on the world,” Rashwan said.

The shattering explosion also claimed the lives of at least 14 others, including several bodyguards of the 60-year-old charismatic Lebanese figure.

Rashwan said the justifications cited by the unknown group for assassinating Hariri were feeble and unconvincing.

“Such justifications would have been convincing if the group attacked an Israeli or a Saudi figure or even Hariri himself when he was a prime minister,” he said.

He said that Lebanon is not a hotbed of the activities of Saudi militant groups as the country is an open arena for the Arab, Israeli and American intelligence and security agencies, which restrict the movement of such groups.

“Israel is the only country that benefits from Hariri assassination that came at a critical juncture for Syria, which is teetering under intense pressure [from the US] to withdraw its troops from Lebanon,” Rashwan added.

Last September, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution calling for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon, in reference to the Syrian troops.

Few days later, the 15-member Council unanimously agreed on a statement calling on Damascus to comply with resolution 1559.

Hours after the attack, Al-Jazeera television aired a video tape from the unknown group which said it had killed Hariri because of his ties to Saudi Arabia.

However, an online statement attributed to Al-Qaeda denied Tuesday that its men in the Levant were behind the killing of Hariri, holding Syrian, Israeli or Lebanese intelligence services accountable for it, Reuters news agency reported.

“Blaming the jihadist and Salafist groups for what happened in Beirut is a complete fabrication,” read the statement signed by a group calling itself Al-Qaeda Organization in the Levant.

“The priorities of the jihadist groups in the Levant are supporting our brethren in Iraq and Palestine, not blowing up cars.

“This is clearly an operation that was planned by a state intelligence agency ... and we blame either the Mossad, the Syrian regime or the Lebanese regime,” added the missive.

Pundits spoke Monday of three possible scenarios, the first being a strong message to the Lebanese opposition supporting resolution 1559.

The second points the finger at Israel and other foreign powers backing the UN resolution with the aim of fanning differences between pro- and-anti-Syria lobbies to force Damascus to pull out its troops of Lebanon.

The third scenario is to stir a wave of public panic to press for the disarming of resistance factions, chiefly Hizbullah.

Khaddam arrived in Beirut Tuesday to pay his last respects to Hariri.

The White House Monday condemned the killing of Hariri and said Lebanon should be free to pursue its political future free of violence and “Syrian occupation.”