Now Lebanon - Hezbollah labels summoning of Sayyed as “political par excellence”, September 17, 2010

Hezbollah issued a statement on Friday saying that Attorney General Judge Said Mirza’s request to summon former General Security chief Jamil as-Sayyed on Thursday was “political par excellence.”

“We were surprised by the judiciary’s decision… which is political and oppressive to those who declare the truth,” the statement said.

This comes after Sayyed said on Sunday that “[Prime Minister Saad Hariri] should take a lie detector test to prove he did not support or fund false witnesses in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL),” investigating the 2005 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri, and vowed to take his right “with his own hands.”

Sayyed was detained from 2005 to 2009 on suspicion of involvement in the Rafik Hariri murder. In April 2009, the STL ordered his release without charges due to lack of evidence.

Hezbollah called for revoking the judiciary's decision to summon Sayyed for questioning, adding that it should have summoned “those who were bragging that they collaborated with Israel [at a certain period of time].”

During a September 8 press conference, Kataeb bloc MP Sami Gemayel said “the Lebanese resistance [during the civil war]… had no choice but to use the devil, [that is Israel] in order to defend itself, [because] it was confronting the Syrian and Palestinian armies.”

-NOW Lebanon