Jan 19, 2011, 6:42 PM

Diplomat says Hariri tribunal is politically motivated

Diplomat says Hariri tribunal is politically motivated

TEHRAN, Jan. 19 (MNA) – Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Reza Sheibani, in an interview with mass circulation daily Hamshahri published on Wednesday, elaborates on the political purposes behind the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) investigating former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri’s assassination.

On the relationship between the current political issues facing Lebanon which led to the collapse of Saad Hariri’s government and his recent visit to the United States, the senior diplomat said when the U.S., the Zionist regime and France realized that the moves by Hezbollah and the Syria-Saudi initiative were bearing results in settling disputes over the Hariri court put pressure on Saad Hariri into giving in to their demands, thereby plunging Lebanon into a new political turmoil.

Commenting on the main purpose behind the UN probe into the 2005 assassination of Rafiq Hariri and attempts to implicate some Hezbollah members in the murder, Sheibani said since Hezbollah’s popularity has increased among the Islamic and Arab nations due to its successes in countering invasions by the Zionist regime Washington and Tel Aviv are seeking to undermine the resistance group’s status in the region.

They also try to provoke religious strife among the regional countries through leveling accusations at Hezbollah as a Shia group, Sheibani noted.

He added that the United States and the Zionist regime are using the STL as a tool to undermine peace and stability in Lebanon, but as Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah has said the tribunal is politically motivated and Hezbollah will not even allow a suspicion to be raised about the involvement of his group in the killing.

He has also speculated about the political condition in the country in future.

Sheibani, a former Iran’s ambassador in Beirut, said Saad Hariri still has the chance to be reappointed as the prime minister if he accepts the Syria-Saudi plan and meets his commitments. However, he added if the Lebanese groups oppose his reappointment, there are prominent politicians including former prime ministers Omar Karami and Najib Mikati, and caretaker Economy Minister Mohammad Safadi who can be tasked with forming the new government.

The diplomat, who is considered an expert on Lebanon, also believes that the current political situation there can not be described as a crisis.

The country is currently facing some political issues which can be resolved through negotiations and consultations among the Lebanese groups, he opined.

AM/PA
END
MNA

News ID 44228

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