Lebanon: UN ruling needs 'evidence'

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/186923.html

Lebanon requests evidence supporting the recent indictment issued by a US-backed UN tribunal probing the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafiq Hariri.

On Thursday, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in a televised speech that “indictments, despite of their source, are not conclusive and that any accusations need solid evidence that cannot be doubted,” Reuters reported.

“Every individual accused is innocent until proven guilty,” he asserted.

The controversial Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which has been investigating Hariri's death for the past four years under the auspices of Washington, submitted a sealed indictment and arrest warrants to the Lebanese Justice Ministry earlier on Thursday.

The pro-Western Future Television owned by the Future Movement of the victim's son Sa'ad Hariri said that the indictment had named four members of the Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah.

The ministry, however, is yet to make the contents public.

Rafiq Hariri was killed along with more than 20 others in a massive car bombing in the Lebanese capital, Beirut on February 14, 2005.

Reports issued long before the indictment's submission implicated Hezbollah and Syria.

Hezbollah has strictly rejected any involvement in the incident and called the tribunal an “American-Israeli project.”

In an August 2010 public speech, Hezbollah's Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah presented evidence proving that Israel had been behind the assassination.

Nasrallah's televised address featured video footage taken by Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as recorded confessions by Israeli fifth columnists, substantiating that Tel Aviv had masterminded the killing.

Damascus has likewise denied any role and released similar evidence exposing Tel Aviv's fingerprint.

Previous to its issuance, analysts had warned that a potential verdict against Hezbollah or Syria was a means of sowing discord within the Lebanese ranks.

Sa'ad Hariri, though, has hailed the release of the indictment as a “historic moment.”

"After many years of patience, of struggle... today, we witness a historic moment in Lebanese politics, justice and security," he has said.

During his address, Mikati urged the country to “to stand in the way of those aiming to target our nation."

Hezbollah slams attack on UN troops

Lebanese army soldiers stand guard next to a destroyed Italian UN peacekeeper vehicle that was struck by a roadside bomb on Friday, May 27, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/182077.html

Lebanon's resistance movement, Hezbollah, has condemned an attack on a United Nations peacekeeping patrol in the south of the country, which left at least eight people injured.

“Hezbollah considers this a criminal act and calls on the Lebanese specialized services to investigate and uncover the perpetrators and hold them accountable,” Press TV quoted a Hezbollah statement on Friday.

An Italian patrol from the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was targeted by a roadside bomb on Friday, while on a highway leading to the coastal city of Sidon.

At least six Italian soldiers and two civilians were injured in the attack.

According to Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa, two of the peacekeepers are in grave condition.

An earlier report from the Italian news agency ANSA citing defense ministry sources had said that one Italian soldier was killed in the blast.

“This is a despicable act that is clearly directed at undermining UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and stability in Lebanon,'' said Neeraj Singh, a spokesman for the UNIFIL peacekeeping force.

He was referring to the resolution that ended the Israel's 33-day war against the Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah in 2006, which claimed the lives of more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians.

UNIFIL has now launched an investigation into Friday's incident.

The latest attack against UNIFIL troops was in January 2008, when a roadside bomb struck a UN vehicle traveling along the coastal highway south of the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Two peacekeepers were wounded in the blast.

The deadliest attack against UNIFIL was in June 2007, when six Spanish peacekeepers were killed after a bomb hit their convoy near the Israeli border.

US campaign against new Lebanon PM

Najib Mikati was appointed as Lebanon's new prime minister on Tuesday

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/162125.html

The US has launched a smear campaign against Lebanon's opposition-backed Premier Najib Mikati, alleging that Hezbollah forced the official's recent appointment.

The Lebanese parliament recently convened to agree on a nominee to replace caretaker Premier Saad Hariri, whose government collapsed on January 12.

Two days of consultations led to the nomination of Mikati, who enjoyed the support of the opposition spectrum, among them Hezbollah. The candidate was later officially appointed to the office by President Michel Sleiman's decree.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, however, said on Tuesday that the emergence of what she called a Hezbollah-led government would "clearly have an impact" on Washington's relations with Beirut, Reuters reported.

The White House also accused the Lebanese resistance movement of using "coercion, intimidation and threats of violence" to achieve political goals.

Hezbollah's Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah asserted, though, that the group is not striving to gain power in the country and rejected claims that Mikati was Hezbollah's pick for the post.

The developments also come amid a political crisis rooted in the activities of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, a US-backed court probing the 2005 assassination of Rafiq Hariri -- Saad Hariri's father and former premier.

The tribunal is likely to indict some Hezbollah members in the incident in what is denounced as means to sow discord in Lebanon.

Speaking to Press TV, author and political commentator, Carol Gould said Washington would have to ultimately come to terms with Mikati's premiership if the official helps Lebanon out of the current political uncertainty.

“Well, if Prime Minster Mikati can bring stability…, then there won't be a problem and I think the United Stated will have to accept that,” she said.

“Mikati is Harvard-educated, he is a multi-millionaire -- he had a very successful mobile phone business. And if he can bring the Lebanese economy back into a positive figure, and bring stability, then that's a good thing for Lebanon.”

Hezbollah calls for national unity government

Supporters of former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri set fire to tires in the streets of Beirut on Monday, January 24, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/161988.html

Hezbollah has called on new Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati to form a national unity government while former Prime Minister Saad Hariri's supporters have resorted to violence.

Hezbollah and its allies in the March 8 Alliance, which includes Amal and the Free Patriotic Movement, will try to form a national unity government, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said.

“We don't seek to (exclude) anyone,” Nasrallah stated in a televised speech late on Monday night, on the eve of parliamentary talks between Lebanese President Michel Sleiman and lawmakers from the 128-seat parliament.

“The Lebanese people have a real chance to unite without winners or losers,” Nasrallah said on Tuesday.

The government headed by Saad Hariri of the March 14 Alliance collapsed on January 12 over a United Nations inquiry into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, Saad's father, when the March 8 Alliance ministers resigned from the cabinet, saying the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was part of a US-Israeli plot to target the group.

Nasrallah thanked Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, who said last week he would support Hezbollah and its allies in the parliamentary talks to choose a new premier. Jumblatt was once a key ally of former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

Hezbollah pick for PM wins majority

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/161866.html

Hezbollah-backed candidate Najib Mikati has clinched the backing of the majority of Lebanese MPs to be appointed as the country's next prime minister.

Lebanese Druze leader Walid Joumblatt has urged caretaker Prime Minister Sa'ad Hariri to stop his supporters from flooding the streets.

"The streets will kill everyone and the repercussions will fall on all of us," said Joumblatt.

"I believe Hariri is very aware of the situation and the responsibility of protecting the country's peace and institution falls on him," he added.

Joumblatt made his request while crowds of Hariri supporters took to the streets in protest against the nomination of Hezbollah-backed candidate Mikati.

Hariri loyalists go on rampage, burning tires and destroying a van belonging to a TV channel.

Hariri had already said that he would accept the results of the democratic process, eliminating the choice of taking to the streets.

Mikati won 68 votes out of the parliament's 128 seats to be poised as the new prime minister as Lebanese parliamentarians headed for the second day of consultations in an attempt to elect the country's new prime minister on Tuesday, a Press TV correspondent reported.

The two-day consultations started on Monday in the official residence of the Lebanese president in the mountain town of Baabda, overlooking the capital of Beirut.

Mikati says he is stepping forward with a promise to cooperate with all parties in an attempt to help bring the country out of its current political stalemate.

He has presented himself as a candidate backed by the opposition March 8 alliance's consensus.

Earlier, Jumblatt endorsed the opposition's hopeful Mikati.

The leader of the Progressive Socialist Party announced his decision to back Mikati together with six lawmakers from his faction.

Hariri's government collapsed nearly two weeks ago following the resignation of eleven ministers from the coalition cabinet in a dispute over a US-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of Lebanese former Premier Rafiq Hariri.

Lebanon PM resignation accepted

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/159948.html


Lebanon's president has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Sa'ad Hariri after the collapse of his government over tensions provoked by a US-backed tribunal investigating his father's assassination case.

"Since one third of the cabinet members quit, the government is now considered resigned," President Michel Sleiman said in a statement released on Thursday.

"For this reason, I request the caretaker government to carry out its duties until a new one is formed," the president added.

Lebanon's national unity government collapsed on Wednesday after eleven ministers, 10 from the Hezbollah-led March 8 Alliance and one close to Sleiman, resigned as he was on an official visit in Washington.

Sleiman has asked Hariri to continue managing the country's day-to-day affairs in a caretaker capacity until a new cabinet is formed.

The opposition bloc have for months been pressing Hariri to disavow the US-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (SLT), probing the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.

The western-backed majority, however, refused to make a compromise at the expense of the US-sponsored STL.

Rafiq Hariri and 20 other people were assassinated on February 14, 2005, when explosives equal to around 1,000 kilogram of TNT were blown up in downtown Beirut.

The Washington-sponsored STL was set up some two years later to look into the deadly incident.

Reports say that the court would likely issue an indictment against some Hezbollah members.

Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah has vehemently rebuffed the allegations. He has described the plot as part of dangerous projects that are targeting the resistance movement.

The Lebanese As-Safir daily in November wrote that the United States is exerting "intensive" pressure on Hariri tribunal under the motto: "No discussions before an indictment is issued."

'US meddling triggered Lebanon crisis'

Lebanese minister hold a press conference in the northern Beirut suburb of Rabieh to announce their resignation, January 12, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/159909.html


The US administration's interference in Lebanon's internal affairs has created a new crisis in the country, a Middle East analyst says, as the Arab country's government has collapsed.

Hassan Hanizadeh, in an interview with Press TV on Wednesday, added that the resignation of 11 Lebanese ministers from the opposition led by Hezbollah has thrown the government of Saad Hariri into a “new crisis.”

The Lebanese government collapsed on Wednesday after the ministers resigned from the cabinet over tensions stemming from a US-backed probe into the assassination of former Premier Rafiq Hariri in a bombing back in 2005.

“Following the resignation of the ministers, the cabinet of Saad Hariri has entered new crisis because based on the Lebanese Constitution withdrawal of 11 ministers mean the collapse of the cabinet,” Hanizadeh said.

He noted that the major difference between the pro-Western March 14 alliance led by Saad Hariri and the opposition March 8 coalition led by Michel Aoun is due to US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's efforts aimed at disarming Lebanon's Islamic resistance movement.

“On the other hand, the US is pursuing to name the Islamic resistance movement as the main suspect in killing of Rafiq Hariri and indict it by setting up the Special Tribunal for Lebanon,” he said.

Saad Hariri was in the US for a meeting with President Barack Obama when his cabinet was collapsed.

Hezbollah's decision to quit the ruling coalition came after its calls for an urgent cabinet session over the crisis triggered by the Washington-sponsored tribunal were rejected.

Unconfirmed reports indicated that the US-backed court would likely issue an indictment against some Hezbollah members based on testimonies which have already proven false.

Hanizadeh said he believed that Hariri “should prevent the court from issuing indictment against Hezbollah.”

“Although the assassination of Rafiq Hariri was a painful incident but the move should not lead to elimination of Lebanon,” Hanizadeh warned.

Lebanon has been in a political turmoil since the establishment of the US-sponsored tribunal.

In November, the Lebanese daily As-Safir said that the US was imposing "intensive" pressure on Beirut, using the slogan, "No discussions before an indictment is issued."

Syria and Saudi Arabia entered "strenuous negotiations" aimed at preventing Lebanon from plunging into a political crisis on the back of such indictments.

On Wednesday, Leader of the Free Patriotic Movement Michel Aoun announced that Saudi Arabia and Syria had been unable to resolve the dispute. He quoted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi King Abdullah as saying that the collaboration had drawn a blank.

Lebanese unity government collapses

Gebran Bassil (C), Lebanon's Minister of Energy and Water, announces a resignation statement as Mohammad Khalifeh (R), Minister of Health, and Hussein Haj Hassan, Minister of Agriculture, listen during a news conference in Rabieh, near Beirut

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/159852.html


Lebanon's unity government has collapsed after 11 ministers led by Hezbollah and its allies resigned over tensions stemming from a US-backed probe into the assassination of former premier Rafiq Hariri.

Energy Minister Jibran Bassil told a news conference on Wednesday that 10 ministers of an alliance led by Hezbollah resigned from the Cabinet.

"The ministers ... gathered here today announce their resignation from government and urge the president to begin necessary procedure to form a new government," said Bassil, a member of the Free Patriotic Movement -- the key Christian ally of Hezbollah.

An 11th minister close to President Michel Sleiman, State Minister Adnan Sayyed Hussein, tendered his resignation immediately after the announcement, thus providing the minimum resignations required to bring down the government, AFP reported.

Hezbollah made the decision after its demands on Tuesday for an urgent cabinet session over the tribunal's crisis was rejected.

The resignations came as Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri is in the US for a meeting with US President Barack Obama.

Hariri will now head a caretaker administration and Sleiman should consult parliamentary blocs to form a new government.

Former premier Hariri and 20 other people were assassinated on February 14, 2005, when explosives equal to around 1,000 kilogram of TNT were blown up in downtown Beirut.

The Washington-sponsored Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) was set up some two years later to look into the deadly incident.

Reports say that the court would likely issue an indictment against some Hezbollah members.

Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah has vehemently rebuffed the allegations. He has described the tribunal as part of dangerous projects that are targeting the resistance movement.

The Lebanese government had not met in months amid an escalating rift over the STL.