Hariri Slams Hizbullah over Time Interview
Former Prime Miniser Saad Hariri slammed Hizbullah and the cabinet over the TIME magazine interview with one of the four suspects named in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon indictment.
Hariri’s press office issued a statement on Saturday saying that “Hizbullah considers that the State, its institutions, its government and its security and judiciary forces are only tools to protect Hizbullah… and to cover up their violations and abuses against Lebanon and the Lebanese.”
A man suspected of killing former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri told the Time magazine on Friday that the Lebanese government knows his whereabouts and would have arrested him a long time ago if it could.
"The Lebanese authorities know where I live, and if they wanted to arrest me they would have done it a long time ago," the man, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the magazine. "Simply, they cannot."
The press office said that Hizbullah wants the state to cover up its political, military and security existence, stressing that “some officials in the cabinet are providing this cover and participating with Hizbullah in their policy to escape from the truth and justice.”
Hariri wondered if President Michel Suleiman, PM Najib Miqati and his cabinet are aware of the interview published by the magazine.
“It seems that none of them want to hear, read, see or talk about anything linked to Hizbullah and their dominance over the government’s decision… and no one can contradict the opinion and the will of the supreme leader of the Lebanese Republic,” the statement added.
The ex-PM slammed the cabinet saying: “The cabinet has two faces and two tongues. One that presents sweet rhetoric to the Lebanese and the international community to justify the lack of carrying out Lebanon’s commitments toward the STL, and another that runs it and controls decisions in order to obstruct the tribunal and protect the suspects.”
The statement stressed Hariri’s determination to stick to the achievement of justice and to face all forms of “political terrorism” and “security domination.”
Four members of Hizbullah have been indicted for the massive 2005 car bomb attack that killed Rafiq Haririand 21 others.
Prosecutors have indicted Salim Ayyash, 47, Mustafa Badreddine, 50, Hussein Anaissi, 37 and Assad Sabra, 34, for the murder.
The whereabouts of the four are currently unknown, with the U.N.-backed tribunal's president last Thursday calling for greater efforts to arrest the men.
The tribunal said Wednesday it had enough evidence to try them.
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