Now Lebanon - Hariri to Sleiman: The STL protects Lebanon - August 12, 2011

Opposition leader Saad Hariri issued a statement on Friday commenting on President Michel Sleiman’s Thursday speech, saying that the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) is “a means of protecting Lebanon.”
“The tribunal is a way to protect Lebanon from organized political assassinations and to achieve justice [in past murder cases],” Hariri said after Sleiman hinted on Thursday that the STL “might ignite strife” in the country.
Concerning national dialogue, Hariri called for exclusively discussing the use of non-state arms if dialogue is to be resumed.
“The only way [to facilitate dialogue] is to start by solving the issue of non-state weapons … not by [addressing] the STL matter all over again,” the former premier added, after Sleiman said that his call for national dialogue “does not intend to improve the conditions of a certain party…at the expense of another.”
Hariri also said that he disagrees with the president’s view on the uprisings in the Arab world, adding that “these developments must not be a source of concern for the Lebanese people…but an opportunity to foster democracy in the Arab political life.”
Sleiman has called for a new national dialogue session, while the western-backed March 14 parties have said they will only attend if it tackles the issue of Hezbollah’s arms.
Last month, the STL indicted four members of Hezbollah, but the Shia group ruled out their arrest.