The Daily Star - Raad warns officials against cooperating with tribunal - March 05, 2011

Hezbollah bloc leader slams STL prosecutor’s ‘suspicious requests’ for information
By Hussein Dakroub
Daily Star staff
Saturday, March 05, 2011

BEIRUT: The head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc called Friday on ministers, government officials and the public to not cooperate with the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which is probing the 2005 killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Nabatieh MP Raad also called for freezing the memoranda of understanding signed by Lebanon and the STL’s agencies until a new Cabinet is formed.

Speaking at a news conference at Parliament, Raad slammed STL Prosecutor General Daniel Bellemare’s latest requests for information from Lebanese ministers as “suspicious requests” that represented the objectives of foreign intelligence bodies.

“What is happening with regard to the [STL] investigation is the biggest act of tutelage and piracy modern Lebanon has ever witnessed in which all standards of justice, public freedoms and human rights are being violated,” he said.

“It is no longer acceptable for the country to be exposed in this manner. From this platform, we call on all free, honorable and patriots whatever their positions might be – ministers, ministries, directors general, departments, officials and citizens – to not cooperate with the requirements of the international tribunal because this amounts to an infringement on Lebanon’s sovereignty and a violation of the Constitution and laws,” Raad said.

Raad added that Hezbollah’s 12-member bloc supported the four ministers who rejected Bellemare’s requests for information.

“In this context, we say clearly that the memoranda of understanding between all STL agencies and Lebanon must be frozen until the formation of a new government that can decide on all formulas and take an appropriate national decision on them,” Raad said.

“Nothing obliges the ministers or any official in the country to deal with [STL] requests. There is a debate on the legitimacy and constitutionality [of the memoranda]. If this matter is disputed, it should at least be left until the Cabinet is formed,” he added.

Raad’s remarks came a day after Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati warned that some Lebanese parties were seeking international help to place Lebanon under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter that would force it to comply with the STL’s requirements.

Mikati said this week that he had received information that some parties have approached international quarters to have a U.N. resolution issued under Chapter 7 after four Lebanese ministers rejected requests for information from Bellemare.

Sources close to the STL told The Daily Star Tuesday that four caretaker Cabinet ministers have turned down requests from Bellemare: the caretaker ministers of public works (Ghazi Aridi), energy (Jibran Bassil), interior (Ziyad Baroud) and telecommunications (Charbel Nahhas).