Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Hezbollah leader Nasrallah rejects Hariri indictments

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Hezbollah leader Nasrallah rejects Hariri indictments

    Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has rejected indictments of four of its members over the 2005 assassination of Lebanon's former PM, Rafiq Hariri.

    He also said no power would be able to arrest the "honourable brothers", who have not yet been named officially.

    It was Nasrallah's first reaction to the indictments issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) on Thursday.

    The Shia Islamist movement has repeatedly denounced the UN-backed tribunal and vowed to retaliate.

    Rafik Hariri and 22 others were killed in February 2005 in central Beirut when a huge bomb went off near his motorcade.

    Hariri's son, Saad, welcomed the indictments and described them as a "historic moment" for Lebanon.

    'Israeli plot'
    In a televised speech on Saturday, Sayyed Nasrallah rejected "each and every void accusation" made by the STL, saying it was tantamount to an attack on the group.

    He said the four group members were brothers "who have an honourable history in resisting Israeli occupation".


    Rafik Hariri is widely credited with getting Lebanon back on its feet after the 15-year civil war
    Sayyed Nasrallah went on by describing The Hague-based tribunal as biased and part of an Israeli plot.

    The Hezbollah also urged people to stop worrying about the potential for conflict, saying the tribunal's indictments would not lead to civil war in Lebanon.

    On Thursday, Lebanon's state prosecutor, Saeed Mirza, said he had received the indictments and four arrest warrants from an STL delegation in Beirut.

    The STL later confirmed the indictments, stating that the judge "is satisfied that there is prima facie evidence for this case to proceed to trial".

    It added that it would not reveal the identities of those indicted.

    However, Lebanese Interior Minister Marwan Sharbil has told the AFP news agency that the names of the men charged are Mustafa Badr al-Din, Salim al-Ayyash, Assad Sabra and Hassan Unaisi.

    Mr Badr al-Din was jailed in Kuwait over a series of bombings in 1983, and is a brother-in-law of the late top Hezbollah military commander, Imad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated in a 2008 bombing in Damascus.

    Leaks from the tribunal suggest it is mainly relying on mobile phone evidence to accuse the Hezbollah members, the BBC's Owen Bennett-Jones in Beirut reports.

    The Lebanese government now has 30 days to arrest the four men, but Sayyed Nasrallah said they would not be detained not even in "300 years".

    With Hezbollah being a strong force within the government, no-one is expecting the arrests, our correspondent adds.

    Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah rejects indictments of four of its members by the UN-backed tribunal over the 2005 assassination of Lebanon's former PM Rafik Hariri.

  • #2
    If any of these guys rolled up to a UN checkpoint, would the mandate allow them to be arrested?
    'He died who loved to live,' they'll say,
    'Unselfishly so we might have today!'
    Like hell! He fought because he had to fight;
    He died that's all. It was his unlucky night.
    http://www.salamanderoasis.org/poems...nnis/luck.html

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Flamingo View Post
      If any of these guys rolled up to a UN checkpoint, would the mandate allow them to be arrested?
      I doubt it ...On the the other hand if they rolled upon a Lebanese Army CP, they would.. UNIFIL arresting them would surmount to being non-biased/impartial any more and involving itself in Lebanese politics. That IMO, would have repercussions ..
      Last edited by Craghopper; 3 July 2011, 11:38.

      Comment


      • #4
        Would they be safe at a Lebanese army checkpoint as well? Hezbollah are talking a good game, that the government wouldn't have the balls to arrest them.

        On the other hand, a lot of the ordinary Lebanese seem to have been seriously hacked off at the murder, and I presume a lot of the army would have the same attitude...
        'He died who loved to live,' they'll say,
        'Unselfishly so we might have today!'
        Like hell! He fought because he had to fight;
        He died that's all. It was his unlucky night.
        http://www.salamanderoasis.org/poems...nnis/luck.html

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Flamingo View Post
          Would they be safe at a Lebanese army checkpoint as well? Hezbollah are talking a good game, that the government wouldn't have the balls to arrest them.

          On the other hand, a lot of the ordinary Lebanese seem to have been seriously hacked off at the murder, and I presume a lot of the army would have the same attitude...
          As I've said on my initial post, if there is an arrest warrant out for them they should be arrested if they go through a Leb Army checkpoint.. whether that happens is another thing.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Flamingo View Post
            If any of these guys rolled up to a UN checkpoint, would the mandate allow them to be arrested?
            UNIFIL Mandate
            Originally, UNIFIL was established by the Security Council in March 1978 by its resolutions 425 (1978) and 426 (1978) to:

            Confirm Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon;
            Restore international peace and security; and
            Assist the Lebanese Government in restoring its effective authority in the area.
            The concept of UNIFIL operations had to be adjusted twice: following the 1982 Israeli-Lebanese war when the UNIFIL positions were overrun and its functions were limited primarily to humanitarian assistance; and after the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon to the Blue Line in 2000, enabling the Force to resume its military functions.

            Following the July/August 2006 Israeli-Hizbullah war, the Security Council, by resolution 1701 (2006) of 11 August 2006, has significantly enhanced UNIFIL and expanded its original mandate to:

            Monitor the cessation of hostilities;
            Accompany and support the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) as they deploy throughout the South, as Israel withdraws its armed forces from Lebanon;
            Coordinate these activities with the Governments of Lebanon and Israel;
            Extend its assistance to help ensure humanitarian access to civilian populations and the voluntary and safe return of displaced persons;
            Assist the LAF in taking steps towards the establishment between the Blue Line and the Litani river of an free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the Government of Lebanon and of UNIFIL deployed in this area;
            Assist the Government of Lebanon in securing its borders and other entry points to prevent the entry in Lebanon without its consent of arms or related materiel.



            It is mentioned in the mandate about supporting the Government of Lebanon. The problem with arresting these guys are that they are members of Hizbullah and that party is the majority party in the coalition that makes up the current government.

            Interesting article in Haaretz (Israeli Newspaper) about it.

            UN-backed tribunal arrives in Beirut to issue four arrest warrants for Hezbollah officials accused of the assassination of former Lebanon PM.

            Comment


            • #7
              correct me if I am wrong but are not Hezbollah the largest single political party in Leb, gaining more votes and seats in the last election. The issue with Leb is that there are no good or bad guys only degrees of each and this is a mess into which we are sending troops..

              Comment

              Working...
              X