March 14 MP Khaled Daher said that Prime Minister Najib Mikati has to choose between justice or injustice …by either severing his government’s relations with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) or by “rescuing the country” from attempts to obstruct justice.
“Mikati is dealing with two conditions: to either submit to the conditions of the March 8 coalition or save his country from its scenario to obstruct justice,” the MP said Wednesday morning during the second day of parliamentary session aimed to debate the ministerial policy statement of newly-formed government.
He also praised the Syrian people who are revolting against their regime and calling for “freedom and democracy.”
“We call for the respect of the Syrian people’s choices,” al-Daher said, adding that supporters of the Syrian regime in Lebanon that are seeking to harm the people of the neighboring country should be silenced.
Daher’s comment about Syria enraged MP Assem Qanso a staunch supporter of the Syrian regime and reportedly wanted to start a fight with Daher, but Speaker Nabih brought order to the session
STL confirmed the indictments in the assassination of Lebanon’s former PM Hariri on Thursday. An STL delegation met with Lebanon’s state prosecutor Said Mirza on Thursday and handed him a copy of the Lebanon portion of the indictment and the arrest warrants. Two of the suspects Mustafa Badreddine and Salim Ayyash are reportedly senior members of the Iranian and Syrian-backed Hezbollah while the other two Hezbollah members Hassan Aneissy, also known as Hassan Issa, and Assad Sabra played a supporting role in the execution of the assassination.
Lebanon has 30 days to find and arrest the suspects but Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said Saturday that the party would not cooperate with the tribunal.
“No Lebanese government will be able to carry out any arrests whether in 30 days, 30 years or even 300 years.”
“We reject the Special Tribunal for Lebanon along with each and every void accusation it issues, which to us is the equivalent of an attack against Hezbollah,” Nasrallah added in his hour-long speech.
Nasrallah admitted all the four suspects are Hezbollah members:
“The suspects named in the indictment are brothers who have an honorable history in resisting Israeli occupation.” He said
The whereabouts of the four remain unknown but some reports indicated that the two prime suspects in the assassination already fled to Iran.
Professor Ghassan Karam commented about Nasrallah’s defiance in an article in Ya Libnan: ” Nasrallah has acted as judge, jury and executioner. He has determined that his people are not guilty and that no one should dream of arresting any of them”.
“My only advice to those charged is that they should consult a lawyer as soon as possible…Now is the time for defense.” Francois Roux, the head of the Defense Office of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon said in addressing the four Hezbollah members who were indicted in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri
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