Lebanon MP: Hariri has proven himself to be a true statesman

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Prime Minister Saad Hariri has proven himself to be a true statesman that refuses to use the testimonies of the false witnesses of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) to accuse Syria of the 2005 assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri, MP Okab Sakr a key member of March 14 parliamentary bloc told New TV on Monday

In his first remarks to the media following his last meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad, Hariri said in an interview with As-Sharq al-Awsat published on Monday that the accusations that Syria was behind his father’s (Rafik Hariri) murder were political in nature.

“We assessed mistakes that we made and that harmed the Syrian people and ties between the two countries,” the PM told the newspaper and added:“At a certain stage we made mistakes and accused Syria of assassinating the martyred premier. This was a political accusation.”

Some people misled the STL’s investigation and thereby damaged Syrian-Lebanese relations and politicized the assassination, Hariri also told the daily.

“One has to assess (events) in previous years so that past mistakes are not repeated,” Hariri said.

Sakr added that Hariri has also rejected using the issue of the STL’s false witnesses to harm the tribunal.

“We must know who protects the false witnesses and who helps them appear in the media,” the MP also said.

The cabinet asked Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar on August 18 to follow up on the issue of the tribunal’s false witnesses.

During an iftar on Monday in honor of social and cultural figures Hariri stressed : “Responsibility requires us to be on a high degree of humility and be as close as possible to the people.”

He added: “We as officials in the State should act responsibly, and I, in my authority as Prime Minister of all Lebanon, also have to act responsibly.”

STL

STL was formed to try the killers of Lebanon’s former PM Rafik Hariri and the related crimes .

No one yet knows who will be indicted in Hariri’s murder. Daniel Bellemare the prosecutor of the Tribunal reacted to the recent rumors about the indictment by saying: People should remember this: “Unless they can read into my brain, everything else is just speculation”.

As Safir newspaper started the rumor about the indictment and wrote last July that STL will indict over 20 Hezbollah members between September and December of 2010 . But Bellemare stressed last week that he has not yet drafted the indictment and urged Hezbollah to provide the additional evidence that its chief said he possessed. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah accused Israel of being behind the murder of Hariri and said has the evidence to prove it.

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5 responses to “Lebanon MP: Hariri has proven himself to be a true statesman”

  1. Same news different day… We know Saad Hariri is a good statesman, we know the political accisation of Syria of R. Hariri’s assasination and we also know that HezbuAllah denounces the STL.

    Where is the news?

  2. Oh Jad u there !

    here’s the news !

    “People should remember this: “Unless they can read into my brain, everything else is just speculation”.”

    Funny huh!

  3. Alliances are shifting now. Jumblatt started the reproachment, Saad is apologising, Kataeb released a statement saying they “never politically accused Syria for the assassination.” (even though that’s a blatant lie) All that is left out of the powerful leaders is Geagea. And I’m sure he’s going to release a similar stance soon. And on top of all this, Berri is becoming an important ally to Saad and Jumblatt. Jumblatt and Berri especially are becoming the allies they once were long time ago.

    BUT, what’s amazing is that no one is really criticising Saad for being a bad politician who swaps sides. Everyone went crazy went Jumblatt decided to become ‘neutral’. All I have to say is Jumblatt really saved the country 2 years ago. If it were not for him, the country today would not be prospering at all. He foresaw the future before anyone else, and knew which path to take. And slowly the other big leaders followed suit. Ignore Wahhab, or Aoun, or Arslan, or Karami, or the Qowmiyeh. They were never the real powers in Lebanon. They were only the speakers for the Syrian regime. The REAL powerhouses in Lebanon are figures like Hariri, Berri and Jumblatt. Geagea will also take his place soon for the Christians. I don’t think the Kataeb will be as powerful though. The Lebanese Forces are definitely much stronger. And with Pierre Gemayel dead (allah yir7amoh), I think Kataeb lost their last chance for becoming a powerful force again.

    The Arabs have made their unified stance. Peace in Palestine seems imminent. And all Syria wants is the Golan heights back. Syria knows Iran is never going to help it achieve that. And that’s why I think now Hezbollah is going to be left alone with it’s only support being Iran.

    And for Aoun… well… goodluck to him really. He still thinks he should be president.

  4. Once again the beat of the musical chairs changes, alliances shift and the country is still in a dark hole.

    1. he doesn’t want to be killed by the Syrian too, time to kneel down ,isn’t the Lebanese way” id lali mabtikdirla nekh we bousa”

      haram hal balad chou ta3is bi rjeilo.

      Baad Camille Chamoun mafi rjeil ,kilon bsainettttttttttttttt,wel Hariri mitlon

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