Higher Shiite Islamic Council Considers Tribunal as Null, Rejects Cabinet Cooperation with it

Lebanon’s highest Shiite religious authority has slammed the international tribunal as a political tool designed to target Hizbullah and urged Premier-designate Najib Miqati’s cabinet not to cooperate with it.

The Higher Shiite Islamic Council’s religious and executive committees said in a statement following a meeting on Monday that the council considers the Special Tribunal for Lebanon as “null and void.”

The meeting was chaired by the council’s deputy chairman Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan.

The statement stressed that the resistance-army-people equation proved its capacity to protect Lebanon.

It said continued Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace proved that Lebanon was still in the circle of Jewish targets. “This calls for the Lebanese to hold onto the army-people-resistance equation which proved its capacity to protect Lebanon.”