August 9, 2010 - Now Lebanon - Sakr hopes Israel is behind Hariri assassination

As-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper quoted on Monday Lebanon First bloc MP Okab Sakr as saying that he hoped Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s statements Monday evening will incriminate Israel in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Nasrallah said earlier last week that he will reveal during a press conference on August 9 irrefutable evidence proving that Israel was behind the assassination.

“We hope that Nasrallah’s evidence is conclusive so it is presented to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL),” Sakr said, adding that it would be Lebanon’s satisfaction if Israel was found guilty of the assassination.

Sakr said that he expects Nasrallah’s speech to be calm as the latter is aware of Lebanon and the region’s delicate situation. “I believe Nasrallah has [taken the Baabda summit into consideration] and he wants to completely avoid sedition,” he added.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz and President Michel Sleiman held a summit on July 30 in Baabda in a bid to defuse political tension following Nasrallah’s July speeches, calling the STL an “Israeli project” aimed at harming the Resistance by stirring up sectarian strife.

The MP voiced hope that Israel would not benefit from the information the Hezbollah chief will disclose. “[March 14] places any evidence Nasrallah reveals in the hands of the STL,” he also said.