Hale Says Source of Lebanon Divisions is Violence that STL is Confronting

إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية W460

The political violence that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is confronting is the source of sharp divisions among the Lebanese, U.S. Ambassador to Beirut David Hale has said.

“I don't think that the Tribunal caused the divisions in Lebanon,” he told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat published on Sunday.

He said the axis of political violence that the court is confronting now is the source of the divisions.

The diplomat rejected attempts to take advantage of assassinations, bombings and violence to terrorise rival politicians.

The victims resorted to the international community to ask for justice rather than resorting to violence, he said.

Asked about reports that the U.S. had not cooperated with the investigators on the mobile phones data, Hale said he should not make comments that would hint any interference in the trial but stressed that Washington has always supported all of the Tribunal's aspects.

Nearly nine years after a suicide truck bomb killed ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and 21 others, the trial started Thursday in The Hague for four Hizbullah suspects accused of plotting the assassination.

The four suspects are Mustafa Badreddine, Salim Ayyash, Assad Sabra and Hassan Oneissi.

A fifth was Hassan Habib Merhi, who was indicted later than the other four suspects and is not currently being tried.

All five of them are not in custody. Lebanese authorities have failed to arrest them.

The STL prosecution's case is made up of evidence including large amounts of data from mobile phones allegedly used by the plotters to plan and execute the bombing.

The U.S. call for stability in Lebanon needs law enforcement and the Tribunal is participating in this process to a big extent, Hale said.

He denied that Washington would reach a settlement on the court if dialogue between the U.S. and Hizbullah-backer Iran made further progress after the nuclear deal that Tehran struck with the West.

Hale said it was in the interest of the Lebanese people to stick to the dissociation policy. But unfortunately Hizbullah is trying to drag the country into the Syrian conflict.

Hizbullah has sent its members to fight alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad's troops despite the Baabda Declaration, which was adopted in 2012 by the rival parties, including Hizbullah, to distance Lebanon from the region's turmoil.

Asked about the formation of the new government in Lebanon, Hale stressed that the process should be held without any foreign interference.

He shied away from answering on whether the international community backed the extension of President Michel Suleiman's term, which expires in May.

He said the U.S. “strongly backed” efforts to choose a Lebanese president.

“Lebanon is no longer occupied by a foreign force,” he said in reference to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon in the aftermath of Hariri's assassination in 2005.

Comments 17
Thumb Mystic 19 January 2014, 09:14

American observed, and Lebanese taxes paid. Speaks for itself indeed.

Thumb ice-man 19 January 2014, 09:52

Do Iranians pay taxes in Lebanon?

Thumb Mystic 19 January 2014, 10:57

What happend to Benzona?

Thumb ice-man 19 January 2014, 11:03

I don't know, but maybe you can ask Mr. Blackk?

Thumb ice-man 19 January 2014, 10:05

yep.... it certainly does.

Thumb eli-g 19 January 2014, 14:30

With all due respect the STL is there to prove without a shadow of a doubt, convict, and hopefully punish the thugs that were involved in the killing of Mr. Hariri. Stop twisting and turning it, Its getting old.

Thumb Mystic 19 January 2014, 14:54

With all due respect, STL is a Saudi Western tool, used to destabilize Lebanon even further.

Thumb Mystic 19 January 2014, 14:55

They shouldn't blame people from left to right, they should follow evidence and not make up fabricated ones.

Missing helicopter 19 January 2014, 17:20

The killings of Harriri, those before him and those after him were all signs of stability that the STL is attempting to thwart.

Thumb eli-g 19 January 2014, 15:49

you know and I know who is fabricating evidence. No one is STL is not blaming but certain people that they believe committed the crime.

Thumb eli-g 19 January 2014, 15:55

You know and I know who is fabricating evidence. The STL is not blaming people left and right. It is blaming five Lebanese people it believes are involved in the crime of killing of Mr. Hariri. Stop spinning it.

Thumb Mystic 19 January 2014, 22:22

Just like they falsely blamed the 4 Lebanese generals? That wasted their years of their lives in jail? That is another reason i do not believe in the STL at all.

Missing un520 19 January 2014, 22:39

OK, so you believe that STL has a weak and fabricated case. Why dont the four suspects come forth and defend themselves instead of hiding in Iran? Why dont Hezbollah hand over their "alternative" proof of who was behind this?
My view on this is that Hezbollah is finally all washed up after commiting very ugly crimes against their fellow Lebanese. The proof is all there to see, and there is more to come.

Missing helicopter 19 January 2014, 17:17

When they withhold information, you accuse them of complicity. And when they do provide information, you accuse them of fabricating it to frame HA. Is there anything they can do to please your camp mc?

Missing helicopter 19 January 2014, 17:19

And HA is there to assassinate anyone who stands against the establishment of welayat elfaqih.

Missing minlibnan 19 January 2014, 17:53

I hate how a measly ambassador in Lebanon voices his opinion. Isn't their job to issue a travel visa!?!? And not just this one. All of them. They meet with out PM or speaker of the house??! On what grounds?

Default-user-icon Ramez (Guest) 20 January 2014, 19:18

.Sorry Herr Ambassador Hale
It looks like you're some kind of lost : Lebanon is under occupation. And the occupying scum is Terrorist Fundamentalist islamist-shii Iran.
The same that Obama's "strategy" is making so great and pathetic efforts to promote and strengthen in Lebanon, Syria, Irak, Yemen, Bahrain, etc.
A stinking criminal US-style "transaction" is on its way.
Not a lie could veil that truth.