July 28, 2010 - Now Lebanon - Hajj Hassan calls STL a US pawn

Agriculture Minister Hussein al-Hajj Hassan told New TV on Wednesday the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) is a US pawn.

He said that Hezbollah does not accept the tribunal indicting any of the former’s members for the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

“[Indicting] Hezbollah members will drag the country into problems,” Hajj Hassan added.

“Some Future Movement MPs’ statements sound as if they still suspect Syria is behind Hariri’s assassination,” the MP added.

Tension has increased after Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah questioned the credibility of the STL earlier in July, calling it an Israeli project designed to create sectarian conflict in the country.

Last Thursday, Nasrallah claimed Hezbollah members would be named in the STL’s pending indictment.

Hajj Hassan also said that some public figures are miscalculating if they are gambling on relations to worsen between Syria and Hezbollah.

He did not verify reports that PM Saad Hariri would meet with Nasrallah, saying only that “everything depends on the circumstances.”