Russia Reiterates Support to STL, Lashes Out on ‘Politicizing’ Tribunal

Russian ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin stressed on Thursday that his country’s stance on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri “hasn’t changed.”

“We participated in funding it, but we are against politicizing (the tribunal),” he told An Nahar newspaper.

Concerning the visit of a Hizbullah delegation to Russia, Zasypkin said that the Russian parliament had invited the delegation long time ago.

“We consider it as an important event in the relations between Lebanon and Russia. The delegation is discussing critical political issues in the Middle East,” the ambassador stated.

The delegation is set to hold talks with Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov on Thursday as part of its three-day visit.

“The Hizbullah delegation will discuss with Russian officials the Lebanese local situation, including the developments concerning the Special Tribunal for Lebanon,” As Safir newspaper reported.

The STL had issued arrest warrants against four Hizbullah members; however, the party has announced that it will not cooperate with the tribunal, describing it as an American-Israeli product aimed at destroying it.

“The delegation will also tackle the situation in the region, and the stances on the (crisis) in Syria,” sources told the Russian state RIA Novosti news agency.

The party’s parliamentary bloc leader Mohammed Raad headed the delegation, accompanied by Hizbullah MPs Hassan Fadlallah and Nawwar Sahili.

The delegation is due to visit the council of Muslims in European Russia and the Foreign Ministry, and will also give lectures at Moscow universities.

The group on Wednesday met Constantin Kosachyov, the head of the Russian parliament's lower house's international affairs committee, which invited the group.

Kosachyov voiced support for Lebanon’s stability and sovereignty, noting that his country wants to “listen to Hizbullah’s vision on the situation in Lebanon and the whole region.”

"We exchanged opinions on the situation in Lebanon, (and) the Arab world, discussed the attempts by the U.S. and the NATO bloc to destabilize the situation in the Middle East," Novosti quoted Raad as saying.

He said the visit aimed to show "the intention to deepen the prospects of cooperation and coordination between Russia and Lebanon."

Al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Thursday that the party’s first official visit to the country is linked to Russia’s stance at the U.N. Security Council on the Syrian crisis.

On October 4, Russia and China vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution, drawn up by European nations, threatening action if Syria's leader does not end a deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests.