UN: Hezbollah's invitation to boycott the Hariri Tribunal "unacceptable intimidation"
Beirut (AsiaNews) - "An unacceptable act of interference and intimidation" is the tough UN response Hezbollah’s call to "boycott" the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and to stop "all forms of cooperation" with the International Investigators.
Tensions are mounting over the Special international tribunal into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, after the rumours that “investigators will impeach Hezbollah men". The level of concern with which the Party of God follows the story is highlighted by the fact that its greatest exponent, Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah (pictured) launched the latest accusations.
The Hezbollah leader described it as a "violation of women’s honour", and deeply worrying because it is difficult to understand what relationship there is between the investigation into the assassination and the clinic’s activities.
The episode led to another attack against the Tribunal, accused of passing all of its information onto Israel. He added that the U.S. is putting pressure on the Tribunal prosecutor, Daniel Bellemare to speed up the publication of its findings, scheduled for December. "Enough with violations," he said, warning that any cooperation with the Tribunal is "an attack on the resistance."
The heightened tone of the attack provoked an immediate reaction of UN spokesman for Ban Ki-moon, Martin Nesirky, who reiterated that the Tribunal is an independent body, created at the request of the Lebanese government and the mandate of the UN Security Council and is "an important tool to uncover the truth and put an end to impunity." Nesirky has called on all parties not to interfere with the Tribunal’s work.
A spokesman for the UN tribunal, added that the call to boycott "is a deliberate attempt to obstruct justice”.
But what is far more serious that the controversy over the Tribunal is the fear that it will charge Hezbollah members of being involved in Hariri’s murder which is likely to cause clashes between Sunnis and Shiites, and perhaps even a return civil war. Moreover Hezbollah is better armed than the army and the latter is considered unreliable, as it has both Sunni and Shia in its ranks. This could seriously undermine attempts by Syria and Saudi Arabia to lower tensions in Lebanon, against the backdrop of the growing conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. (PD)
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