July 20, 2010 - Now Lebanon - Sleiman set to begin meetings to defuse political tension

President Michel Sleiman will kick off on Tuesday a series of meetings with all political leaders in an attempt to defuse political tension that arose in the past few days from Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s speech on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), As-Safir newspaper quoted an unnamed ministerial source close to Sleiman as saying.

This comes after Nasrallah accused in a speech on Friday the STL of being an “Israeli project” designed to target Hezbollah by stirring up sectarian strife in Lebanon. His speech has since drawn harsh criticisms mainly from March 14 MPs and politicians, with some saying the speech fueled sectarian tension in the country.

Media reports have said that the tribunal’s indictment will be issued before the end of 2010. Also, there are reports that some Hezbollah members could be named in the indictment.