Mustaqbal: Govt. is Protecting Fugitives in Tripoli Unrest, Hariri Murder
The Mustaqbal bloc praised on Thursday U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s decision to extend the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s mission for three years, saying that it spared Lebanon heated political disputes.
It accused the March 8 camp of seeking to destabilize the country, blaming it of stirring the clashes that erupted between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen in Tripoli on Friday.
It added in a statement after its weekly meeting: “The government is harboring the suspects in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and those involved in the Tripoli unrest”
It noted that the government is protecting these suspects while the people’s concerns are falling victim to petty political disputes.
“The March 8 camp launched a political, media, military, and security mission to create unrest in Lebanon at the expense of the Lebanese people,” said the statement.
Ban noted on Wednesday that he was inclined to extend the mandate of the STL probing Hariri’s assassination for another three years.
Media reports said that the cooperation protocol with the STL is expected to be passed without any local fuss on the issue amid the cabinet’s impasse.
President Michel Suleiman on Wednesday said that Lebanon “took notice” of Ban’s letter regarding the cooperation protocol.
The STL released the indictment in Hariri’s murder in August, accusing four Hizbullah members of being behind the crime.
The party has meanwhile deemed the tribunal an Israeli-American product, vowing that it would not cooperate with it.
Lebanon has failed to apprehend the suspects and the STL Trial Chamber decided on February 1 to try them in absentia.
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