Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Tuesday that Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah can do nothing to stop the course of the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) and its probe into the 2005 assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri.
“Even if [Nasrallah] holds 300 press conferences, he will not change anything about the STL indictment,” Hariri told MTV from Paris in his first public appearance since March.
“[The new cabinet] might or might not cooperate with the international community, but in the end, Lebanon will pay the price."
He also said that if he was still Lebanon’s premier, his cabinet would have made efforts to search for the four suspects indicted by the tribunal and turned them over.
Hariri added that he has “no problem” with resuming national dialogue. However, he vowed that he will not make concessions regarding the STL and declined to take part in dialogue if it seeks to reach a compromise concerning the tribunal.
He blasted PM Najib Mikati, saying the latter is “serving as a tool” for Nasrallah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Asked about Hezbollah’s key Christian ally, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, Hariri said, “I would have wished that Aoun took part in the first ranks of March 14, [instead of] taking part in the secondary ranks” of the Shia group.
He also said that he has willingly decided to stay abroad, in reference to reports that his life is under threat in Lebanon.
“I will come back to Lebanon when I see that it’s necessary, and hopefully it will not take too long.”
Hariri addressed the protests in Syria, saying the pro-democracy demonstrators “are being oppressed.”
“There are crimes being committed in Syria,” he also said, adding that “the Syrian people are expressing their views. You cannot accuse them of sabotaging the country.”
Over 1300 civilians have been killed in the Syrian government’s crackdown of protests that began in mid-March, rights groups have said.
The STL indicted four members of Hezbollah in connection to the murder, but Nasrallah ruled out their arrest.
Mikati’s cabinet, which was formed in June, includes an ambiguously worded clause in its ministerial statement stipulating that Lebanon will "respect" international resolutions as long as they do not threaten peace and stability.
-NOW Lebanon
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