August 15, 2010 - Now Lebanon - Mitri: Hariri speech showed PM’s commitment to stability

Speaking to Voice of Lebanon radio on Sunday, Information Minister Tarek Mitri said that Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who addressed the media on Saturday during the Iftar sundown feast, “is committed to stability and preserving the common good.”

Media reports expected Hariri to respond to Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s Monday presentation of video footage which the latter said implicates Israel in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

In his speech, PM Saad Hariri said, “I am concerned about all [state] matters because I am [former PM] Rafik Hariri’s son and because I am Lebanon’s Prime Minister,” adding that he will respond to latest Lebanese developments, including those related to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), only when he thinks he should.

Mitri said Hariri made it clear that if the Lebanese agree to avoid internal division, they can achieve national unity regardless of their disagreements.

Legal accusations are the responsibility of the judiciary and security agencies, not the media, Mitri also said, adding that illegal leaks to the media should stop.