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Ban Praises Miqati’s Commitment to International Resolutions

U.N. Chief Ban Ki-moon praised Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s commitment to the international resolutions, al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Ban sent a message to Miqati through Lebanon's Special Envoy to the U.N. Nawaf Salam welcoming the Premiership’s commitment to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Security Council resolution 1701 and all the other resolutions.

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Parliament Session Kicks off as March 8, 14 are Expected to Rattle Sabers Over STL Clause

The March 8 and 14 forces are expected to rattle sabers at the parliament on Tuesday following a series of accusations between the two camps on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon that will try ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s suspected assassins.

The lawmakers of both sides are scheduled to confront each other head-on in parliament for three days during sessions aimed at discussing the cabinet’s policy statement, on which Premier Najib Miqati’s government will seek the legislature’s vote of confidence.

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Russia Says STL Must Help Lebanon’s Stability, Boost Democracy

The Russian foreign ministry said that it will hold onto its stance calling for revealing the truth behind the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and “punishing the guilty.”

“Russia has offered its support to the international tribunal since its establishment” in 2007, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday.

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Barak Hints of Syria’s Involvement in Hariri Murder

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has hinted of Syria’s involvement in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 2005 assassination, in the first Israeli official statement on the indictment that was issued by the international tribunal in the murder case last week.

"The issue is shaking up Lebanon," Barak said Monday about the arrest warrants issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon against four Hizbullah members.

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Bellemare Requests Video Material from Nasrallah, Defends Staff 'Impartiality'

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare on Monday hit back at Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah over the latter’s recent televised address in which he doubted the impartiality of the staff of Bellemare’s office.

“The staff of the OTP have been recruited on the basis of their professionalism, impartiality and expertise, and I have full confidence in their strong commitment to finding the truth,” Bellemare said in a statement.

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Berri: Indictment Won’t Lead to Justice, We Back Govt’s Position on STL

There are “political aspects” to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon indictment, whose release does not lead to justice, but rather to “creative chaos,” Speaker Nabih Berri said Monday.

“On behalf of the AMAL Movement which I head, I announce that we will back the government’s position on the indictment and the STL as per the text of the ministerial Policy Statement,” Berri said in a speech at a ceremony commemorating late Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah.

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Nasrallah: STL Can’t Stand in the Way of Those Who Made History with Their Resistance

Those who have made history through their resistance and jihad against Israel “will not be impeded by the U.S.-Israeli conspiracy of the so-called (Special) Tribunal (for Lebanon), which has become behind us,” Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Monday in a speech recited by his deputy, Sheikh Naim Qassem.

Addressing the rival March 14 forces, Nasrallah said: “Evaluate your policies which drove you out of power … and does power deserve that you incite sedition in order to recapture it?”

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March 14 Slams Miqati: Do You Need to Adopt Rhetoric of Those Who Backed You for Premiership?

The March 14 General Secretariat slammed on Monday Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s response to Sunday’s Bristol meeting, saying that it was surprised by the “premier’s ability to mislead the public.”

It said in a statement: “Miqati tried through his press office to lead the public to believe that his government is keen on achieving justice and uncovering the truth through the Special Tribunal for Lebanon based on article 14 of its policy statement.”

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Jumblat Calls for Keeping STL Out of Political Debate, Slams Opposition's Rhetoric

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has called for keeping the thorny issue of the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon out of the political debate in the country.

“I add my voice to that of the Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani, who called for keeping the issue of the STL out of the domestic political debate, in a manner that allows the consolidation of political stability, the reactivation of the work of state institutions and the addressing of people’s social demands and living conditions, without disavowing the call for justice, which is being mostly harmed by the continuous debate over it,” Jumblat said.

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Aoun: Opposition’s Plan to Incite Countries against Lebanon is Criminal

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun described on Monday the opposition’s plan to incite countries against Lebanon as “criminal,” saying that it will fail.

He said after an extraordinary meeting for the Reform and Change bloc: “They have changed their motto to ‘all against the nation.’”

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