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Saudi-Syrian efforts to defuse tension increase
BEIRUT: Saudi-Syrian attempts to break the Lebanese political deadlock over the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) appeared over the weekend to be in a race against time over the STL’s impending indictment into the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Hizbullah, which is widely expected to be implicated in the killing, has made clear warnings that Lebanon faces the threat of instability if the Saudi-Syrian mediation efforts fail to find a solution – acceptable to rival Lebanese factions – for the crisis over the STL’s indictment.
Hizbullah’s warning came amid reports that Prince Abdel-Aziz bin Abdullah, son of Saudi King Abdullah, arrived in Damascus Sunday as part of the ongoing Saudi-Syrian bid aimed at maintaining stability in Lebanon.
Syria and Saudi Arabia, which wield considerable influence on rival Lebanese factions, are coordinating their efforts in a bid to find a solution to the crisis over the indictment acceptable to both the March 8 and 14 camps.
Media reports quoted an unnamed official in Damascus as saying that Saudi Arabia and Syria are convinced of the necessity to prevent an explosion in Lebanon over the indictment. The two countries are discussing a host of proposals in a bid to reach a joint agreement aimed at protecting Lebanon from the repercussions of the indictment, the reports said.
A key political adviser to Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that his party was counting on Saudi-Syrian attempts to defuse political tension over the indictment, and he warned that the failure of these attempts could destabilize Lebanon.
“The Saudi-Syrian effort to save Lebanon from the crisis is in a feverish race with American pressure exerted on the international tribunal in order to hasten [release of] the so-called indictment,” Hussein Khalil told reporters Saturday after meeting with MP Michel Aoun, head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), to thank him for his positions in support of Hizbullah during his visit to France last week.
“We hope that the Arab effort will beat all the other hostile attempts because [failure of Arab effort] could push Lebanon into the unknown, which we do not want,” Khalil said. The word “unknown” is Lebanese jargon that could mean anything from chaos and instability to strife.
Arab and foreign leaders have voiced concern over stability in Lebanon due to the indictment, which is threatening to plunge the country into renewed sectarian strife. Nasrallah, and Arab and foreign media reports, said that the indictment is expected to accuse some Hizbullah members of involvement in the massive suicide truck bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others on February 14, 2005.
In a dramatic development signaling that the STL is setting the stage for an indictment implicating Hizbullah, the tribunal’s judges have changed the court’s rules to clarify when a trial in absentia can be staged if suspects refuse to surrender.
The changes appear to reflect concerns that once prosecutors name suspects they may not be able to arrest them. Under changes to the STL’s rules announced Friday, a trial in absentia could be ordered around 60 days after an indictment is issued. The tribunal already had provisions for trying suspects in their absence, but had not set time limits for when it could happen.
The court’s amendments apparently came in response to Nasrallah’s recent declaration that Hizbullah will not allow the arrest of any of its fighters charged in Hariri’s assassination.
In a televised speech on November 11, Nasrallah, who has denied that his group was involved in Hariri’s killing, vowed to “cut off the hand” that tries to arrest any Hizbullah fighter named in the indictment.
Tensions have been simmering for months between the March 8 and 14 camps over the STL. The STL is expected to hand down its indictment before the end of the year.
The tension heightened fears of sectarian strife in Lebanon, especially if the STL’s indictment implicates Hizbullah. Hizbullah and its allies in the March 8 camp refuse to recognize the STL, dismissing it as an “Israeli-American tool” designed to incite strife.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of the slain leader, and his allies in the rival March 14 coalition have upheld support for the STL as the best means to reveal the truth behind his father’s assassination. He has also reassured worried Lebanese that there will be no sectarian strife.
MP Okab Saqr, a member of Hariri’s Parliamentary Future bloc, said that he expected a Saudi-Syrian solution to the Lebanese crisis over the indictment to be ready within two weeks. “The Syrian-Saudi solution is the only available solution. I don’t think anyone will reject it because this amounts to a rejection of Lebanon’s protection,” Saqr said in an interview with Al- Jadeed TV Saturday.
MP Suleiman Franjieh, leader of the
Marada Movement, said that Saudi-Syrian good offices were in race with American attempts seeking to destabilize Lebanon.
“There is a race between the Syrian-Saudi efforts and the US policy. We hope that the Syrian-Saudi good offices will beat all other attempts,” Franjieh told reporters in the northern village of Bna’shi after meeting with Aoun. He said that Lebanese factions that support the US attempts did not want to serve Lebanon’s interest. “The West, particularly America, does not want good for this country. They want a Shiite-Sunni rift so that Israel can be relieved,” Franjieh said. He added that he was worried about the situation, saying he feared that Israel might intervene to destabilize Lebanon.
Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel said March 14 parties might approve a foreign or domestic backed compromise to Lebanon’s political deadlock, but only after justice is served by the STL.
“Today we do not need a new national pact or Taif Accord or a second Doha agreement but we rather need a verdict against those who killed our martyrs and afterwards we can talk and welcome all local, Arab and international mediations,” Gemayel said.
He was speaking after a mass held in Jdeideh Sunday to mark the fourth anniversary of his son, former Metn MP, Pierre who was assassinated in a nearby region in daylight by masked men who intercepted his car and shot him.
MP Mohammed Raad, head of Hizbullah’s parliamentary bloc, said that the STL’s indictment is seeking to target the Resistance’s head. He said that after the 2006 Israeli war on Lebanon and internal clashes between pro- and anti-government groups in 2008 have failed to destroy Hizbullah, “the Resistance’s head is now being targeted through a fabrication of an indictment that harms the resistance’s role, Mujahedeen and leaders.”
“This accusation is fabricated by big powers which have appointed themselves as protectors of Israel’s security,” Raad told a rally in south Lebanon Sunday. However, he added, that the indictment will not succeed in vilifying “the resistance which is so deep-rooted among our people that it will not be harmed by a rumor, a fake accusation or a fabricated indictment.”
Meanwhile, Aoun said that his five ministers in Hariri’s 30-member national unity Cabinet will not attend any Cabinet session before the issue of “false witnesses” linked to the UN probe in Hariri’s killing is settled. He spoke to reporters after meeting with Franjieh in the northern village of Bna’ shi.
President Michel Sleiman has repeatedly deferred a Cabinet discussion of the issue of “false witnesses” to avoid a further split among the ministers.
Hizbullah and its allies have insisted that the key to reducing political tensions and reaching the truth behind Hariri’s murder lies in prosecuting witnesses who allegedly misled the UN probe with their false testimonies.
BEIRUT: Saudi-Syrian attempts to break the Lebanese political deadlock over the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) appeared over the weekend to be in a race against time over the STL’s impending indictment into the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Hizbullah, which is widely expected to be implicated in the killing, has made clear warnings that Lebanon faces the threat of instability if the Saudi-Syrian mediation efforts fail to find a solution – acceptable to rival Lebanese factions – for the crisis over the STL’s indictment.
Hizbullah’s warning came amid reports that Prince Abdel-Aziz bin Abdullah, son of Saudi King Abdullah, arrived in Damascus Sunday as part of the ongoing Saudi-Syrian bid aimed at maintaining stability in Lebanon.
Syria and Saudi Arabia, which wield considerable influence on rival Lebanese factions, are coordinating their efforts in a bid to find a solution to the crisis over the indictment acceptable to both the March 8 and 14 camps.
Media reports quoted an unnamed official in Damascus as saying that Saudi Arabia and Syria are convinced of the necessity to prevent an explosion in Lebanon over the indictment. The two countries are discussing a host of proposals in a bid to reach a joint agreement aimed at protecting Lebanon from the repercussions of the indictment, the reports said.
A key political adviser to Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that his party was counting on Saudi-Syrian attempts to defuse political tension over the indictment, and he warned that the failure of these attempts could destabilize Lebanon.
“The Saudi-Syrian effort to save Lebanon from the crisis is in a feverish race with American pressure exerted on the international tribunal in order to hasten [release of] the so-called indictment,” Hussein Khalil told reporters Saturday after meeting with MP Michel Aoun, head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), to thank him for his positions in support of Hizbullah during his visit to France last week.
“We hope that the Arab effort will beat all the other hostile attempts because [failure of Arab effort] could push Lebanon into the unknown, which we do not want,” Khalil said. The word “unknown” is Lebanese jargon that could mean anything from chaos and instability to strife.
Arab and foreign leaders have voiced concern over stability in Lebanon due to the indictment, which is threatening to plunge the country into renewed sectarian strife. Nasrallah, and Arab and foreign media reports, said that the indictment is expected to accuse some Hizbullah members of involvement in the massive suicide truck bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others on February 14, 2005.
In a dramatic development signaling that the STL is setting the stage for an indictment implicating Hizbullah, the tribunal’s judges have changed the court’s rules to clarify when a trial in absentia can be staged if suspects refuse to surrender.
The changes appear to reflect concerns that once prosecutors name suspects they may not be able to arrest them. Under changes to the STL’s rules announced Friday, a trial in absentia could be ordered around 60 days after an indictment is issued. The tribunal already had provisions for trying suspects in their absence, but had not set time limits for when it could happen.
The court’s amendments apparently came in response to Nasrallah’s recent declaration that Hizbullah will not allow the arrest of any of its fighters charged in Hariri’s assassination.
In a televised speech on November 11, Nasrallah, who has denied that his group was involved in Hariri’s killing, vowed to “cut off the hand” that tries to arrest any Hizbullah fighter named in the indictment.
Tensions have been simmering for months between the March 8 and 14 camps over the STL. The STL is expected to hand down its indictment before the end of the year.
The tension heightened fears of sectarian strife in Lebanon, especially if the STL’s indictment implicates Hizbullah. Hizbullah and its allies in the March 8 camp refuse to recognize the STL, dismissing it as an “Israeli-American tool” designed to incite strife.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of the slain leader, and his allies in the rival March 14 coalition have upheld support for the STL as the best means to reveal the truth behind his father’s assassination. He has also reassured worried Lebanese that there will be no sectarian strife.
MP Okab Saqr, a member of Hariri’s Parliamentary Future bloc, said that he expected a Saudi-Syrian solution to the Lebanese crisis over the indictment to be ready within two weeks. “The Syrian-Saudi solution is the only available solution. I don’t think anyone will reject it because this amounts to a rejection of Lebanon’s protection,” Saqr said in an interview with Al- Jadeed TV Saturday.
MP Suleiman Franjieh, leader of the
Marada Movement, said that Saudi-Syrian good offices were in race with American attempts seeking to destabilize Lebanon.
“There is a race between the Syrian-Saudi efforts and the US policy. We hope that the Syrian-Saudi good offices will beat all other attempts,” Franjieh told reporters in the northern village of Bna’shi after meeting with Aoun. He said that Lebanese factions that support the US attempts did not want to serve Lebanon’s interest. “The West, particularly America, does not want good for this country. They want a Shiite-Sunni rift so that Israel can be relieved,” Franjieh said. He added that he was worried about the situation, saying he feared that Israel might intervene to destabilize Lebanon.
Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel said March 14 parties might approve a foreign or domestic backed compromise to Lebanon’s political deadlock, but only after justice is served by the STL.
“Today we do not need a new national pact or Taif Accord or a second Doha agreement but we rather need a verdict against those who killed our martyrs and afterwards we can talk and welcome all local, Arab and international mediations,” Gemayel said.
He was speaking after a mass held in Jdeideh Sunday to mark the fourth anniversary of his son, former Metn MP, Pierre who was assassinated in a nearby region in daylight by masked men who intercepted his car and shot him.
MP Mohammed Raad, head of Hizbullah’s parliamentary bloc, said that the STL’s indictment is seeking to target the Resistance’s head. He said that after the 2006 Israeli war on Lebanon and internal clashes between pro- and anti-government groups in 2008 have failed to destroy Hizbullah, “the Resistance’s head is now being targeted through a fabrication of an indictment that harms the resistance’s role, Mujahedeen and leaders.”
“This accusation is fabricated by big powers which have appointed themselves as protectors of Israel’s security,” Raad told a rally in south Lebanon Sunday. However, he added, that the indictment will not succeed in vilifying “the resistance which is so deep-rooted among our people that it will not be harmed by a rumor, a fake accusation or a fabricated indictment.”
Meanwhile, Aoun said that his five ministers in Hariri’s 30-member national unity Cabinet will not attend any Cabinet session before the issue of “false witnesses” linked to the UN probe in Hariri’s killing is settled. He spoke to reporters after meeting with Franjieh in the northern village of Bna’ shi.
President Michel Sleiman has repeatedly deferred a Cabinet discussion of the issue of “false witnesses” to avoid a further split among the ministers.
Hizbullah and its allies have insisted that the key to reducing political tensions and reaching the truth behind Hariri’s murder lies in prosecuting witnesses who allegedly misled the UN probe with their false testimonies.