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Gemayel from Bkirki: We Understand Fear of the Indictment but We Must Remember the Martyrs

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel stressed on Monday the importance of dialogue and fortifying Lebanon against any political and security repercussions caused by the indictment.

He said after holding talks with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir in Bkirki: "We hope that Arab and international efforts would help the Lebanese overcome their ordeal and we understand some fears over the indictment, but we must remember the martyrs."

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Jumblat Wants Settlement before Indictment

Druze leader Walid Jumblat said he wants a settlement to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon before an indictment is issued.

He told As-Safir newspaper in remarks published Monday that he supports Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's comments which stated that a solution is necessary before the STL issues an indictment in the 2005 assassination of ex-PM Rafik Hariri.

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Berri: CBC Report an Attempt to Expedite Indictment

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri believed that a CBC report implicating Hizbullah in the 2005 assassination of ex-PM Rafik Hariri was an attempt to “put pressure to expedite an indictment” by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Berri, in remarks published Thursday by As-Safir newspaper, said he believed that “repetitive leaks … aimed to push toward a speedy indictment.”

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March 14 Urges Lebanese to Stay Clear of Leaked Information that Harms Justice

The March 14 general-secretariat on Wednesday urged Lebanese politicians and journalists to stay clear of leaked information that puts into doubt the course of justice in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination case.

In a statement released following its weekly meeting, the general-secretariat said: “We urge everyone, particularly politicians and journalists, to stay clear of leaked (information) and different scenarios that aim at doubting the course of justice.”

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Zahra Says March 14 Not Willing to Negotiate on STL, Taef Accord

Lebanese Forces bloc MP Antoine Zahra stressed Wednesday that "nobody is waiting" for a settlement regarding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon "which has become in the hands of the international community and away from narrow political bickering."

In an interview with Voice of Lebanon Radio, Zahra explained that "peaceful resistance is in the adherence to the Constitution, laws and state institutions," adding that the other camp knows that it will not achieve any gains through "the use of force."

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Aoun: I Don't Reject STL's Authority, But False Witnesses Tried to Change Probe's Course

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun has reiterated that he does not reject the authority of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, noting that he was "one of the first people to call for the setting up of the STL."

However, Aoun said that "a bunch of false witnesses tried to change the probe's course."

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Hariri: Suleiman, Berri, Nasrallah and I Won't Allow Lebanon to Explode over STL Indictment

Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Wednesday denied he has any knowledge about an indictment to be issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and ruled out that the Court decision would explode the Lebanon situation.

"President Michel Suleiman and I as well as Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will not allow an explosion to threat Lebanon," Hariri told the Russian newspaper Vremya Novosti on the sidelines of his visit to Moscow.

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Bakri Hires Hizbullah's Saheli as His Lawyer, Military Court Asks ISF Intelligence to Turn Him Over

Radical Islamic preacher Omar Bakri, who was arrested Sunday in Tripoli by a patrol of intelligence agents from the Internal Security Forces, on Monday hired Hizbullah's MP Nawwar al-Saheli as his lawyer.

Bakri was sentenced to life in prison by the Military Court on a host of charges, including inciting murder and belonging to an armed faction.

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Rahhal: Opposition Seeks to Demonstrate that Hariri has Failed but that Will Backfire against Them

Minister of Environment Mohammed Rahhal criticized on Thursday Telecommunications Minister Charbel Nahhas’ statements against Prime Minister Saad Hariri in which he said that he was succumbing to Israeli pressure.

He said: “This is the height of political degradation at Cabinet.”

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Saudi Court Rejects Death for Lebanese 'Sorcerer'

Saudi Arabia's high court has rejected the execution sentence of a Lebanese man convicted of sorcery and recommended that he be deported after a new trial, a newspaper reported Thursday.

The Supreme Court in Riyadh said that the death sentence for Ali Sabat was not warranted because he had not harmed anyone and had no prior offences in the country, Okaz said.

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