July 23, 2010 - Daily Star - Nasrallah says UN Tribunal will indict Hizbullah members

‘Those who are conspiring against Lebanon and resistance will fail’
By Wassim Mroueh

BEIRUT: Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said his party expected the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) would charge some Hizbullah members with involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Speaking via video link during a news conference he had called for in the Beirut southern suburbs on Thursday, Nasrallah said he had information that such an indictment had been decided upon before 2008, but its announcement was being postponed to await more suitable political circumstances.

He expressed surprise that the decision to indict had been made even before the STL had summoned some Hizbullah members for questioning in April.

“Our indicators are that the indictment will be announced in September or October, given what is being prepared in Palestine and the region,” he said.

He said the charges targeted the resistance, after the failure of previous attempts to achieve the same goal.

Lebanon will be pushed into a sensitive period given that the indictment will be issued soon, added Nasrallah.

Nasrallah said that Prime Minister Saad Hariri had visited him prior to his trip to the United States and informed him that “undisciplined” Hizbullah members would be indicted.

He said Hariri has promised him to announce that Hizbullah had nothing to do with his father’s assassination, but that “undisciplined members in the party were involved.”

Nasrallah said Hariri’s move reflected his keenness on preserving stability in Lebanon.

But Nasrallah rejected the indictment, stressing that his party was not afraid at all.

“Let them issue the indictment, those who are conspiring against Lebanon and the resistance, and whose projects have failed are the worried parties because their projects will fail again,” Nasrallah said.

He said that in addition to accusing undisciplined Hizbullah members, the indictment would distance Syria and its allies from involvement in Hariri’s assassination.

He promised to comment on the drive to implicate Hizbullah in the assassination during a second news conference to be held soon.

Tackling the STL’s expected move to absolve Syria of the crime, Nasrallah called upon March 14 officials who had accused Syria of the assassination to reconsider their positions and to engage in a “real” self-critique, “because the results of their decisions had consequences on all the Lebanese.”

He touched on the stances of March 14 coalition following the killing of Hariri, saying they had instigated sectarian tensions in Lebanon, along with inciting Arab regimes, the international community and European states against Syria.

He said the STL had tried to accuse Syria from the first day after Hariri’s assassination, despite the lack of witnesses.

“They came up with a political accusation of Syria, looked for evidence, and brought false witnesses,” said Nasrallah.

He attributed the STL’s current intention to distance Syria from the crime to the country’s steadfastness in the face of regional, international, and Arab pressure.

“It is demanded that you honestly talk to your people about your acts and mistakes, so that we open a new page [between Syria and Lebanon],” said Nasrallah, addressing the March 14 alliance, as he welcomed Syrian President Bashar Assad’s upcoming visit to Lebanon.

Also, Nasrallah demanded that March 14 figures rectify the “unjust” repercussions suffered by people whom they falsely accused based on the statements of false witnesses.

The Hizbullah chief said March 14 leaders have pushed Lebanon into the “most difficult four and half years in its history,” in reference to the period that followed the assassination of Hariri.

“Will you still support them [March 14 leaders] if they do not reconsider their stances and correct their mistakes?” he asked.

“You are free and bear responsibility,” he added.

Earlier on Thursday, Nasrallah held talks with the head of the Lebanese Democratic Party, Aley MP Talal Arslan. Both leaders discussed latest political developments in Lebanon.