By Wassim Mroueh and Hassan Lakiss
BEIRUT: The March 14 coalition agreed on a joint stand to face the thorny issue of “false witnesses” at a meeting Monday attended by top brass leaders at the residence of Prime Minister Saad Hariri in downtown Beirut.
The Cabinet is set to convene Wednesday at the Presidential Palace in Baabda to debate the issue of “false witnesses” with the March 8 coalition pushing for a vote on the issue, which tops the meeting’s agenda.
A March 14 source said the coalition discussed the Cabinet meeting and issue of “false witnesses” among other challenges facing Lebanon and agreed on common stands from the various issues but gave no further details
South Lebanon MP Ali Hassan Khalil, an Amal Movement official, told The Daily Star that the March 8 coalition will “push with all its power to reach a decision on the matter during the [Cabinet] session.”
“We agreed earlier with President Michel Sleiman to postpone raising this issue during Cabinet discussions but today we consider the issue has seen enough debate and it is time for a final decision,” he added.
The Cabinet is deadlocked over how to deal with the matter of “false witnesses” in investigations into the murder of Former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The Hizbullah-led March 8 coalition insists the matter should be referred to the Judicial Council where any pronounced verdict could not be appealed.
But rival March 14 parties led by Hariri endorsed a report prepared by Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar which said the issue could only be handled by the judiciary.
Hizbullah has said that the indictment to be issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) will implicate members of the group and labeled the court an “Israeli project” designed to foment civil strife in the country.
Future bloc MP Ammar Houri told The Daily Star that ministers from the March 14 coalition would reiterate their position during the Cabinet in line with Najjar’s report.
Asked how the ministers would react if the issue was put up for vote, Houri said no final decision had been taken.
“We prefer not to subject the matter to a vote, as many sides including President Michel Sleiman and [MP] Walid Jumblatt do not favor such a step,” he said.
March 8 coalition sources said the group would take escalatory measures if Wednesday’s Cabinet session was postponed, adding that some of the future steps might be announced by Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah who is to deliver a speech Thursday.
Head of the Democratic Gathering Walid Jumblatt, however, is reported to be trying with Sleiman to reach a consensual solution on the matter and avoid a vote which threatens to torpedo the national unity government.
After a meeting with Sleiman, Jumblatt voiced confidence that Hariri was ready to “discuss and in a consensual manner the issue of the indictment.”
Jumblatt said the STL could only be abolished by a UN decision.
Jumblatt said the STL could only be abolished by a UN decision.
“We have to differentiate between the indictment and the tribunal; the tribunal is the result of an international resolution, and it can’t be rescinded except by a decision issued by the United Nations,” he said.
“The indictment can be addressed through consensus and not through tension,” he added.
Jumblatt said that evidence provided by Hizbullah that allegedly implicated Israel in the killing was “very important.”
He also said efforts made by Telecommunications Minister Charbel Nahhas that led to the condemnation of Israeli violations of Lebanon’s telecommunications infrastructure by the International Telecommunication Union was an important step as well.
“All these facts are positive steps in the joint confrontation of the indictment,” he said, as he lashed out at remarks targeting Sleiman.
He said that voting on the issue of “false witnesses” in the Cabinet should be a “last resort.”
“But we have to engage in a dialogue to reach the ideal formula to confront the indictment and preserve the internal security,” he said.
In other developments, US Senator John Kerry who visited Beirut Monday and met Sleiman and Hariri said the STL did not target a certain party or sect.
“Nobody knows what the findings will be … I think whatever those findings are, they are not directed at a whole group of people. They don’t reflect one sectarian, or one religious, or one other point of view. They reflect what some individuals may have chosen to do,” he told reporters after holding talks with Hariri at the Grand Serail.
The US official said Lebanon was unable to abolish the STL.
“Prime Minister Hariri and Lebanon don’t have the power to change the course of the Tribunal because it was created by the United Nations at the request of this country. It would take the votes of many countries to change what has been adopted.”
Kerry reiterated US support for the “work and independence” of the STL along with the stability of Lebanon.
The US denator hoped that his country would send an ambassador to Syria “soon.” Kerry explained that the US president had nominated an ambassador but that many nominations “have been regrettably held up in partisan politics in the US.”
Meanwhile, Lebanese Force leader Samir Geagea said that “if having to choose between the STL and the Cabinet, then it is better not to have a Cabinet.”
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