Mustaqbal Urges Referring Hasan Case to STL, Reiterates Call for Neutral Govt.

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday described the assassination of Maj. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan, head of the Internal Security Forces' Intelligence Bureau, as “a black turning point that cannot be overlooked, as it heralds the end of a phase and the beginning of another in Lebanon.”

According to a statement issued after the bloc's weekly meeting, the headline of the new phase in Lebanon is “the renewed attempt of the Syrian-Iranian regime and its local and regional tools to target Lebanon and turn it into an arena for conflict and settling scores, in a bid to dominate it and subjugate its democratic system and people.”

The bloc slammed Prime Minister Najib Miqati's government, describing it as “a tool of war and persecution in the face of the majority of the Lebanese people and the leaders of the March 14 forces.”

The conferees accused the government of “providing political cover for the violations and recurrent crimes,” noting that it assumed power through the so-called “coup of the black shirts” which was “sponsored by the Syrian-Iranian alliance.”

The bloc said “the departure of the government and its replacement with a neutral, salvation government is the necessary first step towards the minimum level of national order and balance and towards achieving real stability on the eve of the parliamentary elections.”

The conferees also stressed the importance of referring al-Hasan's assassination to the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon, “as it is possible that the Lebanese judicial authorities will be pressured into slowing down the needed measures, just like what happened in the Samaha-Mamlouk case.”