Hariri: Hizbullah Must Sever Ties with STL Suspects and Cooperate with Tribunal
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri called on Wednesday Hizbullah to sever ties with the suspects in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri, urging it to take “an historic stand” to cooperate with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
He said in a statement: “Hizbullah and its chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah should put an end to the policy of evading the STL, cooperate with the tribunal, and hand over the suspects in order to ensure the establishment of a fair trial.”
“Now that STL Prosecutor Judge Daniel Bellemare has submitted the sufficient evidence to commence the trial period, all sorts of political and media outrage over the tribunal must end,” he added.
“Justice will provide stability for our people and protect Lebanon,” he noted.
“What kind of diabolical thinking could have taken over the minds of the suspects to commit such a crime and drag Lebanon onto a terrible and bloody road that killed a number of Lebanon’s political, national, and intellectual elite?” Hariri asked.
“No matter how great the intimidation and threats, nothing will be able to thwart justice and we repeat our pledge that justice will not be employed to achieve revenge,” he stressed.
On the Lebanese government’s position in the STL, the former premier said: “The rhetoric of attempting to outsmart the public … and attempts to escape responsibility in capturing the suspects will no longer work and these matters will only portray the government as failing to cooperate with the tribunal.”
“The indictment and all the accompanying evidence are too overwhelming to be outmaneuvered,” Hariri concluded.
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