Newspapers Divided over Hariri Indictment ‘Reflecting Political Rift’
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Lebanese newspapers on Friday mirrored the deep political rift in the country after a U.N.-backed tribunal issued indictments in the 2005 assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri.
While dailies loyal to former Premier Saad Hariri hailed Thursday's indictment -- expected to implicate Hizbullah members in the case -- as a triumph of justice, those close to the Shiite group slammed it as another Israeli plot.
"After the truth, comes justice," declared the front-page headline of al-Mustaqbal, a daily owned by the Hariri family.
"Time is up for the killers as the time of justice begins," read the daily's editorial. "It is noteworthy that Hizbullah's leadership has thus far had no comment on the arrest warrants... which all target members of Hizbullah."
Others, however, were less jubilant, with papers close to Hizbullah raising questions over the timing of the indictment.
"It is easy to draw the conclusion... that the political moment the tribunal chose to issue its political indictment is directly linked to ongoing preparation for a new Israeli war on Lebanon's resistance (Hizbullah) and possibly Syria," al-Akhbar columnist Ibrahim al-Amin wrote.
As-Safir, slammed the Netherlands-based tribunal for its secrecy, saying it lacked credibility.
"The indictment did not come as a surprise, but there are several question marks surrounding it," read a front-page editorial.
"The secrecy of the Special Tribunal in notifying authorities of its decisions, of keeping the indictment sealed but leaking names and details to obscure media outlets and websites, is questionable."
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Thursday confirmed it had issued an indictment in the February 14, 2005 bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others.
The indictment is widely expected to implicate members of Hizbullah, a move it has repeatedly warned against.
The tribunal, based near The Hague, has handed Lebanese Prosecutor General Saeed Mirza arrest warrants for four Lebanese but did not disclose their identities.
Leaks had been made to the press in recent years over the names of those implicated, with LBC television network reporting the four were members of Hizbullah.
Among the four is Mustafa Badreddine, brother-in-law of top operative Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in a 2008 bombing in Damascus, according to LBC.
Badreddine was said to have supervised the Hariri assassination. He had previously been arrested in Kuwait for planning to bomb the U.S. embassy, LBC reported.
Salim Ayyash, a Hizbullah member who holds U.S. citizenship and headed the cell that carried out the bombing, is also among the suspects, according to LBC.
The other two members reportedly are Hassan Aneissy, known as Hassan Issa, and Assad Sabra.
01 July 2011, 10:46
50
Indictment or no indictment , la vie continue , life continues normally and as usual .
Lebanon has a new majority , and a new strong government that will definitely obtain the confidence of the parliament with a large majority ! such jokes like this so called indictment will not affect our daily work and routine , we have a country to run .
We read that joke called indictment 18 months ago in Derspiegel , so nothing new for us and all the Lebanese .
Sorry to disappoint you guys .
01 July 2011, 11:12
05
You still believe in the same politicians over and over!
Oh mon phenicien, you are so fooled! The indictment is made by an INTERNATIONAL COURT! They can escape but for how long?
Well, if you choose not to believe in International tribunals and international justice then you can be simply like Nassrallah hiding in a bunker somewhere saying that he is not affected by the whole world.
Reality, you cannot live alone. You cannot be the king of the world and act arrogant on the rest of the planet!
Wake up mon phenicien, Lebanese want justice. believe me i want that court to be just and if these guys are innocent let them go to the Hague and prove it and if Hezbollah as they claim have a proof then they should give it to the court so we can sue the hell out of Israel, Kazakhstan, CIA, Moss, or whoever killed Harriri and many Lebanese and destabilized our nation for the last 6 years.
01 July 2011, 11:19
03
300 people work for the STL from 62 countries...
how can people say it s an american tribunal?
and towel head repeated it he has evidence that israel did the assassinations so if he is not a liar,( how could he be given he is a true muslim according to his supporters), then why doesn t he prove that the tribunal is wrong???
it means that the hezb are just lying...
(just like the rockets ba3ad haifa he promised in 2006, they still haven t fallen so far!!!!)
could le phenicien and the supporters of m8 explain us why?
01 July 2011, 13:12
21
True as le phenicie said, tribunal or no tribunal life goes on.. one can not take a whole nation hostage to the STL.. many flaws, and the major one is the leak to der spiegel.. anyways, the new government has to deal with the fallout from yesterday s indictment. Having said that, I think most of us are fed up with violence and assassinations... maybe would be good for the country to know, at least for once, who killed whom.. hopefully the indictement of samir Gea Gea will follow, and all other war lords. I hope we shall see the day when the lebanese judiciary will have the capacity and courage to open all civil war files, and build a huge mega prison somewhere in Lebanon to house ALL those who commited crimes against humanity 1975-1990.
01 July 2011, 14:03
11
Oh so Naharnet discovered oxygen! As if nobody knew YEARS in advance! Nobody is shocked and NOBODY cares but those who have nothing left but false hopes based on their own lies and fabrications. They have miscalculated and continue to miscalculate, which is a good thing as it expedites the arrival of Lebanon's long awaited Spring.
01 July 2011, 15:19
11
When there is no evidence, conspiracy theory appears. Moreover, the same piece of evidence can be used by different people to support very different accounts of events.
Is this the thank you party, BON VOYAGE for what have been accomplished?
“Jacques Chirac lines up for court appearance over corruption claims. Former French president to face questions over role in bogus jobs scandal while mayor of Paris in 1990s. A prison term is unlikely, but in theory Chirac risks 10 years in jail and a fine of €150,000” (March 2011)
Hariri father was the conflict resolution tool used by European orchestra to re-establish its mission in the region. He brought democratic principles, 2 party systems (opposition); he creates the myth of Future.
But unfortunate, those who brought him in power failed to stop him, and they had to leave the politics arena because of the same democratic values
01 July 2011, 15:29
01
@mazen
Geagea has been trial already. You are confused...ahhh... must be the panic...
You say "life goes on" ...well...tell that to Pierre Gemayel's children, or to May Chidiac's sister, to Gebran Tuenis widow...
01 July 2011, 15:32
01
@Mazen
Also, you are VERY selective on the period you wish to trial people for.
So it's fine for you to trial crimes from 75-90, but not the ones from 05 to 10...
You're tragic!
01 July 2011, 15:57
10
get specs, as u clearly can t read print Patriot!!! i am not selective, all murders have to be uncovered.. but Hariri is no god, i want to know who murdered and maimed the 200.000 innocent people 1975-1990.. who stole our lives, and future?? Had those war lords and thousands of tools been tried and imprisoned .. 1991, 92'93'94'95'96'97'98'99'00'01'02'03'04'05'06'07'08'09'10'11'12'13'''''''''''''''''''' would not have happened.
civil war amnesty = a dark and evil Lebanon. Live with it if u wish, I and many more can not accept anything less than full and unconditional rescindment of the amnesty given to those killers..
