"Mehlis ... is accused of being a friend of Zionism and it is said that there are 12 Israeli officers helping him in his work," Kabalan claimed in a Friday sermon at a Beirut mosque that was highlighted by the local media on Saturday.

"We consider Mehlis to be manipulated by those who gave him this position," added the pro-Syrian Kabalan, who owes allegiance in Lebanese politics to Speaker Berri's Amal movement.

The charge was locally taken by the media as a signal of a potential campaign by Lebanon's Shiite community to get Syria off the hook in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination through shifting the blame to Israel.
Apparently to dispel this notion, Kabalan's office later issued correction saying the cleric was merely repeating "what is being said by some people" and that what he said in the sermon did not reflect his own opinion. The corrective statement said Kabalan had no information on Mehlis' work and could not pass judgment on it.

Some reports accused Hezbollah in the murder of Hariri, but Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has disclaimed any involvement in former PM Hariri's assassination, saying hush-hush charges of complicity were "so stupid that they don't deserve a comment."

His complicity disclaimer followed allegations that the truck-bomb that killed Hariri was prepared in a Hezbollah-controlled south Beirut suburb in collaboration with Syria's secret service.

Nasrallah also asserted in an interview published Saturday by the Kuwait daily Al Rai Al Aaam that Hariri was killed by one or two suicide bombers in an attack staged above ground, effectively rejecting a contention favored by Hariri's family that he was killed by a one-ton bomb planted underground.

The suicide theory tends to shift the blame to brainwashed religious fanatics and clear Syria from widespread accusations that it planned and executed Hariri's elimination.

"Syria is the main loser from Hariri's murder and the real beneficiaries are those who campaign for the enforcement of U.N. resolution 1559 at any cost," Nasrallah said. The resolution demands that Hezbollah be disarmed and removed from effective control of Lebanon's border with Israel.

Nasrallah said Hariri was "more apprehensive about me being assassinated than him" in the meetings they held before his Feb. 14 assassination. "He was sure about his personal security but worried about mine," Nasrallah said.

Hezbollah was the main group the stood by Syria after Hariri's assassination and organized a large demonstration to thank Syria. The opposition later organized a much larger demonstration on March 14 calling for Syria to get out of Lebanon. Syria eventually withdrew, but many claim that their intelligence network continues to operate in Lebanon with the support of its allies.

Sources: Ya Libnan, Naharnet