Wednesday
Hariri ousted
Hezbollah tells Lebanon govt to leave UN Hariri court to it
AFP - 15 Dec 2010
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday called on Lebanon's government to step aside and allow his armed movement to singlehandedly deal with a UN court on the murder of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri. #
"The day is coming when this tribunal and all those who conspired with it will face a scandal bigger than that those that WikiLeaks has unveiled," Nasrallah told thousands of his supporters via closed-circuit video.
His comments came as tensions rise over the the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is reportedly ready to indict high-ranking Hezbollah operatives in the 2005 Beirut bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others.
The Shiite leader, who commands the most powerful military force in the country, urged the deeply divided government to stay out of his rising offensive against the STL, which he has claimed is a US-Israeli plot.
"Leave this problem to us and the tribunal, for we are able to face up to it alone and defend ourselves," Nasrallah said one night before a mass procession was scheduled in the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburb of Beirut to mark the commemoration of Ashura.
The Iranian- and Syrian-backed group has warned any accusation in the Hariri murder would have grave repercussions in Lebanon and called for an inquiry by the nation's highest court into what it claims was bogus testimony given to UN investigators.
But Saudi-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of the slain ex-premier, has vowed to see the investigation through.
Nasrallah accused the government, in which Hezbollah and its allies have veto power over major decisions, of protecting the alleged bogus witnesses.
"The Lebanese government is protecting these false witnesses," he said, hours after a cabinet session on the issue was adjourned without feuding ministers coming to an agreement on the issue.
"The government this very night was protecting these false witnesses who for four years have been dragging the country into strife."
Nasrallah also called on his followers to march en masse on Thursday for Ashura, when Shiite worshippers gather to mourn the death of Hussein, a grandson of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed.
"Tomorrow is different, exceptional. What we are asking of you is attendance that is different, exceptional, in all areas," Nasrallah said.
"The world is waiting tomorrow to see your faces ... your resolve," he added. "Tomorrow we meet to tell the world that all Israel's threats of war cannot underscore our resolve."
Nasrallah is expected to speak after Thursday's procession.
----------------------------------
Nasrallah blasts US-backed tribunal
Wed Dec 15, 2010 9:53PM
Hezbollah has once again criticized the US-backed tribunal responsible for probing the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.
Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday accused the tribunal officials of selling the information.
He said Israelis were well aware of the details of the case from the day one the tribunal was set up. #
The US-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) was set up after a bombing killed Hariri and 22 other people in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, in February 2005.
Nasrallah said the tribunal keeps accusing only Syria and Hezbollah of involvement. He added the tribunal's unwillingness to consider other scenarios shows that it is not professional and honest.
Hezbollah has, from the beginning, rejected the allegation, warning that the plot was part of "a dangerous project that is targeting the resistance."
Nasrallah also added that any indictment by the tribunal against Hezbollah or its members will have no effect on the group's readiness to confront Israel.
He also hailed the end of the idea of a "Greater Israel" among the Israeli public and reiterated his previous statement that Hezbollah would not hand over any members who might be mentioned in the US-backed tribunal's upcoming indictments.
The court is expected to announce its findings by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem has also accused the Hariri tribunal of being one-sided in line with Israeli interests.
In an exclusive interview with Press TV on Monday, Sheikh Qassem reiterated that the tribunal was an “Israeli-American tool,” calling on the Lebanese March 14 alliance, headed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, to denounce the tribunal.
---------------------------
Iran's Khamenei: Any Hariri verdict "null and void"
REUTERS - Mon Dec 20, 2010 5:47am EST
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday any findings by an international tribunal into the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri would be invalid.
"This tribunal is a rubber-stamp one whose verdict is null and void whatever it is," state television quoted Khamenei as saying during a meeting with the emir of Qatar. Iran is a supporter of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi'ite group which says the tribunal is a tool of Israel aimed at discrediting it.#
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE6BJ0S020101220
----------------------
'US to shun Hezbollah-led Lebanon'
Mon Jan 24, 2011 9:15AM
The United States has reportedly threatened to cut off aid to Lebanon in case the next government in Beirut is led by the Hezbollah resistance movement.
Arab media outlets quoted an unnamed high-ranking US diplomat as saying on Sunday that the US Congress would deny Beirut any aid if Hezbollah heads the next Lebanese government.#
The US official has also warned that bilateral relations will suffer if such an event occurs.
The United States has provided $650 million in military aid to Lebanon since 2006.
The Lebanese cabinet collapsed on January 12 after eleven ministers from Hezbollah and its allies quit the government.
The government collapse has led to a political standoff after a dispute over the US-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), probing the assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafiq Hariri in 2005.
The US-sponsored tribunal is reportedly about to indict some Hezbollah members in the Hariri murder case -- an allegation which has been vehemently rejected by the Lebanese resistance movement.
Consultations are underway to elect a Lebanese new prime minister to replace the country's caretaker Premier Saad Hariri.
Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah recently attributed Lebanon's current crisis to pressure from the US and Israel.
http://www.presstv.com/detail/161675.html
-----------
Hezbollah has emerged as Lebanon's real victor
A victory for Hizbollah
Telegraph View: Hizbollah's support for Lebanon's new prime minister is a likely tactic to distract from the UN investigation into the murder of Rafik Hariri in 2005.
[ Lebanon falls to Hezbollah ]
25 January 2011 Last updated at 17:17
Hezbollah-backed Najib Mikati appointed Lebanese PM
Protests continues in the Lebanese capital Beirut as night fell
Lebanon's president has appointed Najib Mikati, who is backed by the Shia Islamist group Hezbollah and its allies, as prime minister-designate.
The move came despite demonstrations by thousands of supporters of outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri in the city of Tripoli as part of a "day of rage". #
Smaller protests were also reported in the capital, Beirut, and elsewhere. Mr Hariri has condemned acts of violence.
Analysts say many Sunnis are alarmed by Hezbollah's growing political power.
They accuse the Iran-backed group of staging a "coup", because it brought down the Western-backed government earlier this month after a row over the UN tribunal investigating the 2005 murder of Mr Hariri's father, Rafik. Reports say Hezbollah figures will be implicated.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said a Hezbollah-controlled government would "clearly have an impact" on relations between Beirut and Washington. The US regards Hezbollah as a terrorist group.
'Moderate'
During consultations with President Michel Suleiman on Tuesday, 68 out of 125 members of parliament expressed support for Mr Mikati, a billionaire Sunni businessman who served briefly as premier in 2005.
After his appointment, Mr Mikati said he hoped the new government would serve all of Lebanon, and protect its unity and sovereignty.
"This does not signal the victory of one camp over another," he told reporters. "This is the victory of consensus over difference."
He said nothing justified the refusal of any political party to participate in the next government, adding: "My hand is extended to all Lebanese."
"I look forward to seeing the new government act as one that faces... all the challenges awaiting us and one that lives up to aspirations and hopes of the Lebanese people."
Under Lebanon's power-sharing system, the post of prime minister is reserved for a Sunni, while the president must be a Maronite Christian and the speaker of parliament a Shia.
Earlier, Mr Mikati told the BBC that although he needed the votes of Hezbollah, he remained independent of the movement.
"I am not at all related to Hezbollah by any means," he told the BBC. "I am a moderate politician. I am always at equal distance from everybody."
Hezbollah's leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, meanwhile urged him to form a coalition including all political and sectarian factions.
"We have supported the nomination of... Mikati and we call on him to form a national partnership government. The Lebanese have a chance to close ranks," he told thousands of supporters in Baalbek via videolink.
Streets blocked
Earlier, Mr Hariri went on television to appeal for calm as thousands of his supporters staged street protests against the appointment.
TV pictures from the predominantly Sunni city of Tripoli - Mr Mikati's hometown - on Tuesday morning showed an angry crowd waving banners and holding aloft pictures of Mr Hariri and his father, and tearing down posters of the new prime minister-designate.
Medical sources said 20 people had been injured, and protesters set alight a satellite truck used by al-Jazeera TV.
Schools and shops in the Tripoli area had closed down, following similar protests on Monday.
Protests were also reported in Beirut, where crowds blocked streets, and in the southern coastal city of Sidon.
In his speech, Mr Hariri thanked "every free citizen" who had "denounced the attempts of hegemony over our national citizens".
"But it is also my duty to express my total rejection of all forms of rioting and acts of law-breakers who have accompanied these demonstrations," he said.
Mr Hariri, who has refused to join any Hezbollah-led administration, also said he deeply regretted the attack on al-Jazeera's vehicle.
The protesters' anger is fuelled by the fact that they appear to have been outmanoeuvred by Hezbollah, says the BBC's Kevin Connolly in Beirut.
Although this crisis was triggered by allegations that Hezbollah figures were involved in Rafik Hariri's murder, it appears to be resulting in greater power in the group's hands, our correspondent says.
The question now, he adds, is what kind of prime minister Mr Mikati will be, and what kind of government he will head.
Analysis
Kevin Connolly, BBC News, Beirut
A way out of Lebanon's immediate political crisis has presented itself with a clarity and speed which seemed implausible as the old coalition fell apart. The constitution requires a Sunni prime minister, and the reality of Hezbollah's growing power demanded a candidate acceptable to its leaders.
Najib Mikati, who speaks of the need for unity and consensus, fits the bill - even though many Sunnis are furious that he is prepared to take the job with the backing of a Shia organisation. They speak darkly of a Hezbollah "coup" against Saad Hariri.
It is an extraordinary outcome to a political crisis with roots in the accusation that Hezbollah was involved in the murder of Mr Hariri's father. It consolidates the movement's transformation from a shadowy, armed, state-within-in-a-state into the dominant force in Lebanese politics.
It is an uncomfortable outcome for the US, which denounces Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation and reflects the growing regional influence of the movement's sponsors, Iran and Syria.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12273178
---------------------------
AFP - 15 Dec 2010
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday called on Lebanon's government to step aside and allow his armed movement to singlehandedly deal with a UN court on the murder of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri. #
"The day is coming when this tribunal and all those who conspired with it will face a scandal bigger than that those that WikiLeaks has unveiled," Nasrallah told thousands of his supporters via closed-circuit video.
His comments came as tensions rise over the the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is reportedly ready to indict high-ranking Hezbollah operatives in the 2005 Beirut bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others.
The Shiite leader, who commands the most powerful military force in the country, urged the deeply divided government to stay out of his rising offensive against the STL, which he has claimed is a US-Israeli plot.
"Leave this problem to us and the tribunal, for we are able to face up to it alone and defend ourselves," Nasrallah said one night before a mass procession was scheduled in the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburb of Beirut to mark the commemoration of Ashura.
The Iranian- and Syrian-backed group has warned any accusation in the Hariri murder would have grave repercussions in Lebanon and called for an inquiry by the nation's highest court into what it claims was bogus testimony given to UN investigators.
But Saudi-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of the slain ex-premier, has vowed to see the investigation through.
Nasrallah accused the government, in which Hezbollah and its allies have veto power over major decisions, of protecting the alleged bogus witnesses.
"The Lebanese government is protecting these false witnesses," he said, hours after a cabinet session on the issue was adjourned without feuding ministers coming to an agreement on the issue.
"The government this very night was protecting these false witnesses who for four years have been dragging the country into strife."
Nasrallah also called on his followers to march en masse on Thursday for Ashura, when Shiite worshippers gather to mourn the death of Hussein, a grandson of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed.
"Tomorrow is different, exceptional. What we are asking of you is attendance that is different, exceptional, in all areas," Nasrallah said.
"The world is waiting tomorrow to see your faces ... your resolve," he added. "Tomorrow we meet to tell the world that all Israel's threats of war cannot underscore our resolve."
Nasrallah is expected to speak after Thursday's procession.
----------------------------------
Nasrallah blasts US-backed tribunal
Wed Dec 15, 2010 9:53PM
Hezbollah has once again criticized the US-backed tribunal responsible for probing the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.
Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday accused the tribunal officials of selling the information.
He said Israelis were well aware of the details of the case from the day one the tribunal was set up. #
The US-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) was set up after a bombing killed Hariri and 22 other people in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, in February 2005.
Nasrallah said the tribunal keeps accusing only Syria and Hezbollah of involvement. He added the tribunal's unwillingness to consider other scenarios shows that it is not professional and honest.
Hezbollah has, from the beginning, rejected the allegation, warning that the plot was part of "a dangerous project that is targeting the resistance."
Nasrallah also added that any indictment by the tribunal against Hezbollah or its members will have no effect on the group's readiness to confront Israel.
He also hailed the end of the idea of a "Greater Israel" among the Israeli public and reiterated his previous statement that Hezbollah would not hand over any members who might be mentioned in the US-backed tribunal's upcoming indictments.
The court is expected to announce its findings by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem has also accused the Hariri tribunal of being one-sided in line with Israeli interests.
In an exclusive interview with Press TV on Monday, Sheikh Qassem reiterated that the tribunal was an “Israeli-American tool,” calling on the Lebanese March 14 alliance, headed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, to denounce the tribunal.
---------------------------
Iran's Khamenei: Any Hariri verdict "null and void"
REUTERS - Mon Dec 20, 2010 5:47am EST
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday any findings by an international tribunal into the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri would be invalid.
"This tribunal is a rubber-stamp one whose verdict is null and void whatever it is," state television quoted Khamenei as saying during a meeting with the emir of Qatar. Iran is a supporter of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi'ite group which says the tribunal is a tool of Israel aimed at discrediting it.#
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE6BJ0S020101220
----------------------
'US to shun Hezbollah-led Lebanon'
Mon Jan 24, 2011 9:15AM
The United States has reportedly threatened to cut off aid to Lebanon in case the next government in Beirut is led by the Hezbollah resistance movement.
Arab media outlets quoted an unnamed high-ranking US diplomat as saying on Sunday that the US Congress would deny Beirut any aid if Hezbollah heads the next Lebanese government.#
The US official has also warned that bilateral relations will suffer if such an event occurs.
The United States has provided $650 million in military aid to Lebanon since 2006.
The Lebanese cabinet collapsed on January 12 after eleven ministers from Hezbollah and its allies quit the government.
The government collapse has led to a political standoff after a dispute over the US-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), probing the assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafiq Hariri in 2005.
The US-sponsored tribunal is reportedly about to indict some Hezbollah members in the Hariri murder case -- an allegation which has been vehemently rejected by the Lebanese resistance movement.
Consultations are underway to elect a Lebanese new prime minister to replace the country's caretaker Premier Saad Hariri.
Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah recently attributed Lebanon's current crisis to pressure from the US and Israel.
http://www.presstv.com/detail/161675.html
-----------
Hezbollah has emerged as Lebanon's real victor
A victory for Hizbollah
Telegraph View: Hizbollah's support for Lebanon's new prime minister is a likely tactic to distract from the UN investigation into the murder of Rafik Hariri in 2005.
[ Lebanon falls to Hezbollah ]
25 January 2011 Last updated at 17:17
Hezbollah-backed Najib Mikati appointed Lebanese PM
Protests continues in the Lebanese capital Beirut as night fell
Lebanon's president has appointed Najib Mikati, who is backed by the Shia Islamist group Hezbollah and its allies, as prime minister-designate.
The move came despite demonstrations by thousands of supporters of outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri in the city of Tripoli as part of a "day of rage". #
Smaller protests were also reported in the capital, Beirut, and elsewhere. Mr Hariri has condemned acts of violence.
Analysts say many Sunnis are alarmed by Hezbollah's growing political power.
They accuse the Iran-backed group of staging a "coup", because it brought down the Western-backed government earlier this month after a row over the UN tribunal investigating the 2005 murder of Mr Hariri's father, Rafik. Reports say Hezbollah figures will be implicated.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said a Hezbollah-controlled government would "clearly have an impact" on relations between Beirut and Washington. The US regards Hezbollah as a terrorist group.
'Moderate'
During consultations with President Michel Suleiman on Tuesday, 68 out of 125 members of parliament expressed support for Mr Mikati, a billionaire Sunni businessman who served briefly as premier in 2005.
After his appointment, Mr Mikati said he hoped the new government would serve all of Lebanon, and protect its unity and sovereignty.
"This does not signal the victory of one camp over another," he told reporters. "This is the victory of consensus over difference."
He said nothing justified the refusal of any political party to participate in the next government, adding: "My hand is extended to all Lebanese."
"I look forward to seeing the new government act as one that faces... all the challenges awaiting us and one that lives up to aspirations and hopes of the Lebanese people."
Under Lebanon's power-sharing system, the post of prime minister is reserved for a Sunni, while the president must be a Maronite Christian and the speaker of parliament a Shia.
Earlier, Mr Mikati told the BBC that although he needed the votes of Hezbollah, he remained independent of the movement.
"I am not at all related to Hezbollah by any means," he told the BBC. "I am a moderate politician. I am always at equal distance from everybody."
Hezbollah's leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, meanwhile urged him to form a coalition including all political and sectarian factions.
"We have supported the nomination of... Mikati and we call on him to form a national partnership government. The Lebanese have a chance to close ranks," he told thousands of supporters in Baalbek via videolink.
Streets blocked
Earlier, Mr Hariri went on television to appeal for calm as thousands of his supporters staged street protests against the appointment.
TV pictures from the predominantly Sunni city of Tripoli - Mr Mikati's hometown - on Tuesday morning showed an angry crowd waving banners and holding aloft pictures of Mr Hariri and his father, and tearing down posters of the new prime minister-designate.
Medical sources said 20 people had been injured, and protesters set alight a satellite truck used by al-Jazeera TV.
Schools and shops in the Tripoli area had closed down, following similar protests on Monday.
Protests were also reported in Beirut, where crowds blocked streets, and in the southern coastal city of Sidon.
In his speech, Mr Hariri thanked "every free citizen" who had "denounced the attempts of hegemony over our national citizens".
"But it is also my duty to express my total rejection of all forms of rioting and acts of law-breakers who have accompanied these demonstrations," he said.
Mr Hariri, who has refused to join any Hezbollah-led administration, also said he deeply regretted the attack on al-Jazeera's vehicle.
The protesters' anger is fuelled by the fact that they appear to have been outmanoeuvred by Hezbollah, says the BBC's Kevin Connolly in Beirut.
Although this crisis was triggered by allegations that Hezbollah figures were involved in Rafik Hariri's murder, it appears to be resulting in greater power in the group's hands, our correspondent says.
The question now, he adds, is what kind of prime minister Mr Mikati will be, and what kind of government he will head.
Analysis
Kevin Connolly, BBC News, Beirut
A way out of Lebanon's immediate political crisis has presented itself with a clarity and speed which seemed implausible as the old coalition fell apart. The constitution requires a Sunni prime minister, and the reality of Hezbollah's growing power demanded a candidate acceptable to its leaders.
Najib Mikati, who speaks of the need for unity and consensus, fits the bill - even though many Sunnis are furious that he is prepared to take the job with the backing of a Shia organisation. They speak darkly of a Hezbollah "coup" against Saad Hariri.
It is an extraordinary outcome to a political crisis with roots in the accusation that Hezbollah was involved in the murder of Mr Hariri's father. It consolidates the movement's transformation from a shadowy, armed, state-within-in-a-state into the dominant force in Lebanese politics.
It is an uncomfortable outcome for the US, which denounces Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation and reflects the growing regional influence of the movement's sponsors, Iran and Syria.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12273178
---------------------------
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