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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Lebanon heading for interim setup

2013-03-24

BEIRUT — Lebanese President Michel Suleiman accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Saturday, local media said, paving the way for a caretaker government after a political standoff with the Hezbollah movement. Every government there has been a 'caretaker'; none of them have any real power beyond what Syria and Hezbollah allow... Mikati’s resignation could plunge Lebanon, already struggling to cope with a spillover of violence and refugees from neighbouring Syria’s civil war, into further turmoil and uncertainty three months ahead of a planned parliamentary election. The resignation on Friday came after a two-day ministerial meeting remained deadlocked by a dispute with the Hezbollah, a political movement that has dominated Lebanese politics in recent years. “I did not inform anyone of my decision in order to avoid any pressure from any side,” he was quoted as telling President Suleiman by the local news website Naharnet. “My decision was a personal one ... It is now important that dialogue among the Lebanese begin. I hope that the resignation will pave the way for a solution to the political deadlock in the country.” Hezbollah opposed extending the term of a senior security official and the creation of an oversight body for the planned June parliamentary elections, which may now be delayed over the collapse of Mikati’s government. Major General Ashraf Rifi, head of Lebanon’s internal security forces, is due to retire early next month. Rifi, like Mikati, is from Tripoli, and is distrusted by Hezbollah. If the Hezbies trust him that means we shouldn't... Mikati became prime minister in 2011 after Hezbollah and its partners brought down the unity government of Saad Al Hariri. But tensions over Syria have put him at odds with the group that brought him to power and which strongly backs President Bashar Al Assad’s battle against rebels and protesters in Syria. Mikati backed a policy of “dissociation” from the conflict, hoping to keep Lebanon from being dragged in to the two-year civil war in its larger neighbour. Under Lebanon’s confessional division of power, the prime minister must be a Sunni, the president a Maronite Christian and the speaker of parliament a Shia. Former prime minister Fouad Siniora, a close political ally of Hariri who has frequently called for Mikati to step down, said his resignation “opens the possibility of fresh dialogue” between Lebanon’s political camps.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Kerry urges Lebanese to accept Hariri court

2010-11-09

[Emirates 24/7] Leb cannot change the course of a tribunal investigating the killing of statesman Rafik Al Hariri, a leading US senator said on Monday in comments acknowledging sectarian tensions over expected indictments. Shia, Iranian-backed Hezbullies is trying to block the tribunal, attempting to curb its financing and calling on Lebanese to halt cooperation with it after it emerged that members of the group may be indicted for the 2005 attack. The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday the court was moving to indict between two and six members of Hezbullies by the end of the year. Sunni, Western-backed Prime Minister Saad Al Hariri supports the UN-backed court investigating his father's death, and cooperation with the tribunal is enshrined in the policy statement of the government, of which Hezbullies is a member. Diplomats and politicians have previously said indictments may surface by early next year. As they approach, sectarian tensions have risen and political disputes between the Hariri and Hezbullies camps have escalated. "Prime Minister Hariri doesn't have the power to change the tribunal," said John I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "Leb doesn't have the power to change the tribunal because it was created by the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society at the request of this country," Kerry said after meeting Hariri and before heading on to Damascus. Hezbullies, which considers the court a tool of US and Israeli policy, has called on Hariri to repudiate the tribunal, whose investigation first pointed the finger at Syria.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Saad Hariri accuses Syria of trying to sway UN probe

2005-12-06

DUBAI - The son of slain Lebanese premier Rafik Al Hariri accused Syria on Monday of trying to influence a UN probe into the murder, saying he never met a Syrian man who claimed to have been bribed to testify against Damascus. No! Reeeeeeally? Witness Hosam Taher Hosam appeared on Syrian state television last week and accused Lebanese officials, including Hariri’s son Saad, of a scheme of threats, bribery and torture to induce him to falsely implicate Syria and said the initial findings of the UN inquiry rested largely on his lies. Asked about Hosam’s testimony, Saad Al Hariri told a media forum in Dubai: “There are people who have interest in trying to take the investigation to another level ... I never met him, I never had (any) connection with him. Definitely there were no bribes given to anybody in the investigation. He came to the commission freely and he then went to Syria freely...this is propaganda and part of the media campaign that some people are starting to undermine the (UN) commission.” And what part of that do you find surprising? UN investigators started questioning five Syrian officials in Vienna on Monday over Hariri’s killing in Beirut, diplomatic sources said. Syria, which denies any role in the murder, agreed after guarantees from permanent UN Security Council member Russia that the officials could return to Damascus afterwards. Guesses as to how many of the have have heart attacks or helicopter accidents?... Ooooh! Ooooh! Wonder what the chances are that one of them will be murdered by Lebanese? Or Zionists? Hariri, a member of parliament and his father’s political heir, Keep in mind that Leb is an hereditary oligarchy... urged Syria to avoid procrastinating and cooperate with the UN investigation. “The problem is between Damascus and the international community, nobody commits a crime and is above the law. We need to close this chapter quickly not to make it a political issue.” "Before they kill me!"

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