UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday strongly reaffirmed UN backing for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
"I urge all Lebanese not to interfere in its work – I reaffirm our belief in the importance of the tribunal. It has a mandate, its own role. We will strive so that it can go on with its work," the UN chief said.
His comments came after Syrian judicial authorities issued arrest warrants for 33 Lebanese, Arab and foreign nationals in response to a suit by former head of Lebanon’s General Security Jamil as-Sayyed, who alleged that they had given "false testimony" to tribunal investigators.
Sayyed was jailed in 2005 in connection with the murder and then released for lack of evidence with three other former generals in 2009.
Tensions also have risen over the possibility that the special international court could indict members of Hezbollah, which some fear could rekindle civil strife between Shia and Sunni Muslims.
But in affirming UN support for the tribunal, Ban said, "Nobody can interfere or prejudge."
"Peace and stability should be one thing, but the work of the tribunal must go on," he said.
Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mouallem described as "purely procedural" the controversial arrest warrants Damascus has issued against 33 people.
"It's purely procedural," he told a news conference during a visit by his Romanian counterpart, Teodor Baconschi.
When asked about the tribunal, Mouallem insisted that it is "purely a Lebanese affair."
Following Wednesday’s cabinet session, Information Minister Tarek Mitri said that the issue of false witnesses will be discussed in the upcoming cabinet session on Tuesday after ministers have the chance to read Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar’s report on the matter.
Najjar was delegated by the cabinet on August 18 to follow up on the issue of witnesses who gave false testimonies in the investigation of the Rafik Hariri murders.
Mitri said that the issue of false witnesses was discussed in general terms, adding that PM Saad Hariri voiced the importance of avoiding sedition.
“No one threatened to withdraw from the cabinet meeting [on Wednesday],” Mitri said, adding that Amal ministers brought up the issue. “It is their right [to do so],” he also said.
NOW Lebanon’s correspondent reported earlier Wednesday that Amal ministers threatened to walk out of the session unless the issue of false witnesses was brought up.
The information minister quoted President Michel Sleiman as saying that the security situation is not worrying and that the security forces are ready to perform their duties.
-AFP/NOW Lebanon
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