Aoun concerned over Hezbollah’s bad image

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Following Change and Reform bloc meeting its leader MP Michel Aoun told the media that he is “afraid the judges in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) will develop a bad image of Hezbollah because when that happens, there will be prejudgments and gaps in the investigation.”

“According to my information, the Hezbollah members who were questioned by the STL are reassured and did not feel pressured,” Aoun, who is closely allied with Hezbollah said

“Nasrallah expresses himself according to his way, and I do so according to my way,” Aoun added, referring to the Hezbollah leader’s Friday statement that the STL is an “Israeli project” that aims to incite sectarian strife in Lebanon.

A report in the As Safir newspaper this morning revealed that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) will be issuing at least two rounds of the indictments starting from next September and around the end of this year. In the first round Bellemare will reportedly indict three to five members of Hezbollah and in the second round about 20 with various ranks including some key officials.

According to observers, As Safir, which is closely associated with Hezbollah may have leaked the above information to Hezbollah and this could have been the reason behind the recent intensified attacks against the STL by Hezbollah and its allies .

According to As Safir , Bellemare said that the Lebanese military leaders told him in an informal way that the Lebanese army will not arrest any members of Hezbollah party if indicted by the court.

STL was formed by the United Nations to try the killers of former PM Hariri , who was assassinated on February 14 , 2005.

A report in the German Der Spiegel magazine dated May 2009 revealed a link between Hezbollah and the assassination of Lebanon’s former PM Rafik Hariri, father of the current prime minister.

Rules of the game

Aoun denied the reports that he told Nasrallah in a meeting last week to “change the rules of the game in Lebanon,” a reference to a Saturday article in As-Safir newspaper.

“I did not tell Nasrallah that anyone wants to kill him. This is not the way I speak,” the Change and Reform bloc leader also said.

“As-Safir’s comments were only political analysis. I hope the paper’s analysis will be wrong,” Aoun added.

He also said that Israel will not wage war against Lebanon if it is not collaborating with someone inside Lebanon. Aoun was reterating the statement made by Nasrallah during his speech last week

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