Israel Matzav

Nasrallah expects indictments in Hariri case

The Wall Street Journal reports that Hezbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah expects members of his organization to be indicted by the tribunal that is looking into the murder of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the father of current Lebanese Prime Minister Sa'ad Hariri. It is widely believed that the murder - accomplished with a car bomb - was carried out by Hezbullah and other terrorists sympathetic to Syria.

In an unusual, late-evening news conference by video link, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah denied his group was involved in the assassination, and sought to cast any indictment as politically motivated.

He said he was told about likely indictments—which he said could come as early as September—by Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Mr. Hariri's press office said a spokesman wasn't available to comment.

A representative for the prosecutor, Daniel Bellemare, didn't respond to an email request to comment late Thursday. Mr. Bellemare's special U.N. tribunal, which began work in March 2009, has yet to issue any indictments.

Mr. Hariri has enjoyed support from the West and from Saudi Arabia. But since his political bloc won last year's elections here by a narrow margin, he publicly courted Hezbollah and agreed to a power-sharing deal with the Hezbollah-led opposition.

Mr. Hariri supported the formation of the U.N. tribunal, and will be under pressure to cooperate fully with any U.N.-sponsored indictment and court proceedings.

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Hmmm. Hmmm.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:05 PM