Hariri’s 'Preemptive' Position Aimed at Ending Debate on STL

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s recent statement on Lebanese affairs is aimed at “preempting developments” in order to prevent further debate over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, a leading official in the March 14 camp told the daily An Nahar in remarks published on Saturday.

He justified this position by saying that the tribunal is no longer up for discussion as it was approved based on United Nations Security Council resolution 1757 and an agreement at the national dialogue in 2006.

Addressing the national dialogue, he stated: “No new topic can possibly be added to the talks unless the pending issue of Hizbullah’s possession of arms is resolved.”

On Friday, Hariri snapped back at President Michel Suleiman saying the only way to hold national dialogue is through finding a solution to Hizbullah’s weapons.

“The only door for dialogue opens by solving the issue of illegitimate arms and not by making renewed overt attempts to lure the issue of the international tribunal to the dialogue table,” he said in statement issued by his press office.

Suleiman had urged on Thursday for dialogue to confront the repercussions of the events in the Arab world and the state of anticipation over the STL, which are spreading concern among citizens.

Hariri has previously voiced skepticism about Suleiman’s invitation for all-party talks, insisting that Hizbullah’s arms should be the only topic for discussion, or else the March 14-led opposition would not attend the dialogue session.

Hariri said in his statement that developments in the Arab world and the anticipation over the course of the international tribunal “should not be a reason of concern among the Lebanese.”

“Most Lebanese find the Arab popular movement as an occasion to spread democracy in Arab political life,” the former prime minister added.

Meanwhile, sources close to Suleiman told the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat in remarks published on Saturday that ties between him and Hariri “still stand, even if they are not communicating directly with each other because of Hariri’s presence abroad.”

Mustaqbal parliamentary sources reiterated these statements, saying that ties between president and former premier have not been severed.

They stressed that Hariri’s recent statement was aimed at “emphasizing the need for dialogue and asserting that the STL is not the cause of instability in Lebanon.”