BEIRUT: Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea played down Tuesday the possibility of an outbreak of sectarian strife in Lebanon over a disputed UN-backed tribunal trying the assassins of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
In an interview with The Daily Star, Geagea said he did not expect any Lebanese faction “will resort to violence inside [Lebanon] … and the side adopting this approach will head toward committing suicide until further notice.”
“That’s why I am relatively confident, but on the other hand I see ongoing political escalation from the other side which has uncovered full intentions to destroy the international tribunal,” he added.
Tension soared in Lebanon after Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah slammed the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) as an “Israeli project” targeting the resistance, hinting it should be dissolved.
Nasrallah said he expected members from his party to be targeted by an impending STL indictment and called for trying “false witnesses” that misled investigations and implicated Syria in the murder along with their sponsors.
Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar forwarded a report to ministers that included the legal method to try “false witnesses.” The report stated that the matter did not satisfy the required conditions to be referred to the Justice Council.
While March 14 figures headed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri – the son of the slain premier – supported Najjar’s view, the rival March 8 camp including Hizbullah insisted the matter should be referred to the Justice Council.
The Cabinet is deadlocked over the “false witnesses” issue.
Geagea said that inter-Arab contacts could affect “neither the STL nor the issue of false witnesses since these matters are not political but judicial and legal … Arab inter-contacts could be beneficial in allowing the agreement among Arab states on not using violence in any state and Syria has to agree with its allies not to use violence in the Lebanese internal arena.”
The LF leader said he would be the first person to reject the indictment if it turned out to be illogical and lacked enough evidence.
“But whenever a problem is solved, they [March 8 coalition] come up with another one, I have a feeling they are heading toward communications,” he said, urging Telecommunications Minister Charbel Nahhas to notify the general prosecutor’s office at the cassation court and the STL of the content of a news conference he held on Monday.
Nahhas said that Israel has been able to alter telecommunications-related data in Lebanon for a long time.
When asked about his position regarding regional pressures on Hariri to accept “what you do not accept,” Geagea suggested that Hariri be asked the question.
“But based on my knowledge of Hariri, I don’t see [him having] any intention to interfere in the work of the international tribunal and not even in the timing of the indictment,” he said.
“We can not talk about any mistake in the work and performance of the tribunal, which is excellent so far, before finding certain holes or specific mistakes,” he added.
Geagea expressed surprise at the demand to refer the issue of “false witnesses” to the Justice Council, saying that the whole matter of Hariri’s assassination had been referred to the Justice Council in 2005.
Concerning the potential submission of the matter to a Cabinet vote, the LF leader said: “Let them do so if they want,” adding that March 8 ministers “who act as if they are in a banana republic” along with those on neutral sides know that the issue could not be referred to the Justice Council another time.
Concerning the potential submission of the matter to a Cabinet vote, the LF leader said: “Let them do so if they want,” adding that March 8 ministers “who act as if they are in a banana republic” along with those on neutral sides know that the issue could not be referred to the Justice Council another time.
He said the March 14 coalition would demand that the matter of “false witnesses” be investigated after the issuance of the indictment “because we have suspicions which are getting certain that the other side is behaving in a suspicious way to promote illusions [to discredit] the credibility of the international tribunal.”
“Is it a coincidence that the four major witnesses are Syrians?” he asked.
Geagea voiced confidence that apart from Hizbullah, “there is no Syrian influence in Lebanon for other sides … which resemble a small circus.”
He considered that comments made by Hariri to Pan-Arab newspaper Ash-Sharq al-Awsat reflected a “great will” to reorganize relations between Lebanon and Syria.
Hariri said in that interview that implicating Syria in his father’s murder was politically motivated, condemning false witnesses for misleading probes and “politicizing the murder.”
“Unfortunately, this attempt [by Hariri] did not stand even for a few days as it turned out that despite all these efforts, there is no possibility to reorganize relations, especially between Lebanon and Syria,” he said.
Asked about political interference against the LF over its law suit against the chairman of the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC) Pierre Daher and how he predicted the issue would be concluded, Geagea said Syrian officials have interfered in the matter.
“Unfortunately, even the Syrians have intervened and have been trying for six or seven months to contact some of their Lebanese friends to do their best to delay or torpedo investigations, but the Syrians are unaware that today is different from previous days,” he said.
Earlier this month, the Lebanese judiciary issued an indictment in favor of the LF in the lawsuit filed by the party against Daher.
The legal dispute between the LF and LBC started in November 2007 over the ownership of the Lebanese television channel, which was traditionally associated with the right-wing Christian party.
The LF contends that the ownership of the television station should have returned to the party’s leader Geagea after the latter’s release from prison in 2005. However, Daher contests the claims, saying LBC flourished thanks to efforts and investments outside the LF.
Also, the LF announced it would file a new law suit against Daher and a number of figures who took part in a televised talk show following the issuance of the indictment.
During the program, Daher, along with his attorney and several other guests, defended his ownership of LBC.
Geagea labeled Daher – once a key ally – “as the first defense line” of the March 8 coalition against the LF since all figures participating in that talk show were pro-March 8 figures.
Asked whether there was any chance for a settlement, Geagea was adamant that “there was no room for negotiations” and no compromise to find “ways out,” stressing that the dispute with Daher was not personal.
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