STL Condemns Nasrallah's Boycott Call, Vows to Continue Cooperation with Lebanon Government

A tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said Thursday a Hizbullah call for a boycott was a "deliberate attempt to obstruct justice".

Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah urged all Lebanese to boycott the U.N.-backed probe Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), warning that cooperation amounted to an attack on Hizbullah.

He also said the probe was passing on information to Israel, Hizbullah's arch-foe.

"Any call to boycott the Tribunal is a deliberate attempt to obstruct justice," a spokeswoman for The Hague-based tribunal told AFP.

"The STL will continue to rely on full cooperation by the Lebanese government and the support of the international community in fulfilling its mandate," she said.

Lebanon is facing a full-blown crisis over The Hague-based STL amid reports it is set to accuse members of Hizbullah over the murder of Hariri, who was killed with 22 other people in a bombing in Beirut on February 14, 2005.

Hizbullah has accused the United Nations of interfering in Lebanese affairs and called instead for a local investigation.(AFP)