Hariri Says Won't Forget Damascus Role in Tripoli Blasts

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri stressed Thursday that he cannot “forget” that two Syrian officers are accused of involvement in the deadly 2013 bombings that hit two mosques in the northern city of Tripoli.

“On the fifth anniversary of the bombing of the al-Taqwa and al-Salam mosques, we all stand by Tripoli. We won't forget its martyrs and we won't forget that two Syrian regime intelligence officers took part in the crime and are being tried in absentia before the Judicial Council,” Hariri tweeted.

The PM-designate's remarks come at a time of high tensions in the country over the issue of restoring full relations with Damascus.

On August 14, Hariri announced that the new government “will not be formed” should the pro-Damascus camp “insist on restoring Lebanese-Syrian ties.”

“If others insist on restoring Lebanese-Syrian ties from the gateway of the reopened Nassib border crossing, then the government will not be formed,” Hariri said in a chat with reporters, referring to a key border crossing on the Syrian-Jordanian border that has been recently recaptured by Damascus.

“I do not agree to a restoration of Lebanese-Syrian ties and this is nonnegotiable,” Hariri added.

Pro-Hizbullah journalist Salem Zahran meanwhile announced that the PM-designate has told Hizbullah that his remarks were a “slip of the tongue.”