Clinton: Syria’s behavior has not lived up to Washington’s hopes
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during an interview with An-Nahar newspaper:
No one knows what the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) will do, whom it will accuse in its indictment, or what time it will choose to move.
She also said : “The STL is an independent judicial body and has wide international support and added: ” Hezbollah must know that a resort to violence contradicts the interests of Lebanon, its people, the region and the US.”
Syria’s behavior has not lived up to Washington’s hopes, she also said.
Tension escalated in Lebanon following reports that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon will soon issue its indictment into the 2005 assassination of Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Last July, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that the tribunal is “an Israeli project” that will indict Hezbollah members. Nasrallah accused Israel of being behind Hariri’s assassination but refused to provide the evidence to STL to support his claim. Hezbollah and its March 8 allies have been calling for the abolition of STL.
Some leaders are concerned that should the court indict Hezbollah members, it could lead to a Shiite-Sunni strife, others aren’t as worried and see this as a desperate intimidation by Hezbollah against truth and justice that will only lead to more damages to its image in both Lebanon and the entire region.
Al Akhbar newspaper reported last week that Hezbollah has prepared a plan to take over Lebanon when STL issues its indictment for the 2005 murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.