Defiant ... Hassan Nasrallah. Photo: Reuters
BEIRUT: The Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has vowed that four members of his group indicted by an international tribunal in the 2005 assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri will never be arrested. He dismissed the charges as a conspiracy to sow sectarian strife.The comments, which were Mr Nasrallah's first since the indictments were issued last week, appeared to cast Lebanon into familiar territory: waiting as a UN-backed tribunal that Hezbollah dismisses as a tool of the United States and Israel prepares for the next step if the men are not arrested.
''No Lebanese government will be able to carry out any arrests whether in 30 days, 60 days, one year, two years, 30 years or even 300 years,'' Mr Nasrallah, whose Shiite militant group fought a fierce battle against Israel in 2006, said.
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''What will happen is a trial in absentia, a trial in which the verdict has already been reached.''Lebanon has 30 days to carry out the arrests. The court may then issue a public call for the suspects' detention. Failing that, proceedings for a trial in absentia may begin a month later.
Hezbollah has denied any responsibility for the explosion that killed Mr Hariri and 22 other people.
Few in Lebanon doubt that Hezbollah, the most powerful actor in the country and, with its allies, constituting a majority in the cabinet, can shield its members from arrest. But in doing so, it effectively places itself above the law in a country where the group's critics have often attacked it as a state within a state.
Hezbollah has dismissed the indictments by questioning the very credibility and professionalism of the court.
In a relentless campaign that has persuaded many Lebanese, Mr Nasrallah and allies have pointed to persistent leaks by the court and argued that its members are corrupt.
Many in Lebanon have worried that the indictments would ignite strife in a country that remains deeply divided. Mr Nasrallah warned his community, which makes up the single biggest group in Lebanon, that it might face provocations, but that the accusations would not lead to a civil war.
''We have a government that we trust and that is ready to deal with the tribunal with a national spirit and will be able to head off any strife,'' he said.
The New York Times
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/hariri-murder-suspects-will-never-be-arrested-says-hezbollah-20110703-1gx3t.html#ixzz1R7SYa6ZJ
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