"The Hariri Tribunal is 'wrecked', unless you bring back Detlev Mehlis..."

"Via Friday-Luch-Club

Young, writing the Epitaph of the 'Tribunal' unless, he suggests,, we bring back Mehlis, and end 'the prime minister's interference with the investigation'... Brilliant!

"... Hariri’s calculation was probably to retain some semblance of leverage over Hizbullah.... It is difficult to see how Hariri can come out of this convoluted maneuvering with anything in hand.

His comments this week, particularly on the “false witnesses,” were early steps on a slippery slope that can only wreck the tribunal’s effectiveness. The prime minister may want to retain leverage, but his chances of succeeding are diminishing by the day, and the Syrians win either way. What weakens Hariri helps them; what weakens Hizbullah helps them; and a dispute between Hariri and Hizbullah helps them, too. Indeed, today they find themselves indirectly, and agreeably, mediating between the prime minister and Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah through Walid Jumblatt, whose reference point in Damascus is Mohammad Nassif, one of the late President Hafez Assad’s closest collaborators.

This brings us back to Daniel Bellemare. With admirable blitheness, the prosecutor continues to insist that he will not allow politics to enter his investigation. However, he is also an official in a mixed Lebanese-international tribunal, and to ignore the fact that Lebanese politics are steadily overwhelming his work, as they most definitively are, is a sign of his inexperience. Lebanese state institutions form the implementation arm of the tribunal; Lebanese judges sit on the panel; Bellemare’s deputy, Joyce Tabet, is a Lebanese magistrate. Of course the Canadian prosecutor can sit in a remote office and craft an indictment, as he should, but if the Lebanese state is not on board, his work could well end up being an empty intellectual exercise....

Don’t expect much. Bellemare’s communication skills have been appalling. His understanding of Lebanon and its complexities has been no less unimpressive. ....

Bellemare’s options in addressing Hariri’s comments are limited, but that doesn’t mean he can afford to do nothing. When a prime minister interferes in your inquiry, it’s really time to threaten to resign, and say so publicly. Of course, there is nothing that Hizbullah would like more, and it would be a mistake for the prosecutor to actually carry through on the threat, at least initially. But what Bellemare must do is cause a stink, then compel the Security Council to take a position and perhaps issue a resolution affirming confidence in his investigation.

At this stage, Bellemare is out of his league. His only hope for salvation is to return to the international body that created the special tribunal in the first place, and use that as a stick to warn the Lebanese of the consequences of failing to cooperate with his efforts...."

Posted by G, Z, or B at 10:25 AM

Hariri stresses Tribunal should not be used for political means

By Elias Sakr

Daily Star staff

Friday, September 10, 2010

BEIRUT: Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Thursday voiced trust in Lebanon’s capability to challenge looming internal and foreign threats under the current regional circumstances.

Hariri spoke from Saudi Arabia where he was performing the Umrah rituals.

“The Lebanese are capable of surmounting all looming dangers – whether internal or foreign – by holding on to the principles of truth, justice and national coexistence and strengthening their national unity by overlooking narrow tensions and joining hands to face attempts to stir strife,” Hariri said.

Lebanon is expected to witness a flurry of diplomacy following the end of the Eid al-Fitr holiday as media reports said assistant US Secretary of State for Middle Eastern Affairs, Jack Wallace, and French Special Envoy for Lebanese Affairs, Jean Claude Cousseran, are expected to land in Beirut next week.

Their visit comes as part of a tour of the region to follow up on Israeli-Palestinian direct peace negotiations, in which they will hold talks with the Syrian leadership in Damascus in an attempt to revive Syrian-Israeli peace talks.

While Hariri, along with the leadership of the March 14 camp, stresses that the failure of US-sponsored Israeli-Palestinian peace talks would help fuel extremism in the region, Hizbullah and opposition parties have condemned the negotiations as a renouncement of Palestinian rights and sentenced talks to failure.

Media reports said Thursday that the Lebanese scene is expected to witness heated debate over the issue next week as Lebanese parties continue to deliberate over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) and the issue of false witnesses.

Hizbullah’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc leader MP Mohammad Raad reiterated Thursday the need to put false witnesses on trial while Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra stressed that the issue of “false witnesses was tied to a legal study being prepared by the justice minister.”

“We heard in the last few days stances which we will not rush to comment on until we see how these stances would be made practical,” Raad said in reference to Hariri’s remarks to Saudi pan-Arab daily Ash-Sharq al-Awsat.

Hariri said Monday he made a mistake when he accused Syria of involvement in his father’s murder and condemned false witnesses for misleading probes and “politicizing the murder.”

Minister of State Adnan al-Sayyed Hussein said Thursday that “no dates or time commitments were set for the justice minister to finish the task delegated to him by the Cabinet regarding false witnesses.”

Commenting on the relation between Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Hariri, following the premier’s remarks to Asharq al-Awsat, Zahra said no divergence in stances existed between Hariri and Geagea. “What concerns us is Hariri’s continued support to the STL,” Zahra said.

Though he condemned false witnesses, Hariri continued to distance the course of the UN-backed tribunal from political accusations. “I do not want to talk much about the STL but I will only say that the court has its course – one that is not related to previous hasty political accusations,” Hariri told Ash-Sharq al-Awsat, in reference to previous accusations against Damascus.

A Criminal: " “What concerns us is the shape of Hariri’s support to the STL... ”... says

Via Friday-Lunch-Club

Posted by G, Z, or B at 4:25 PM

__

... says the Member of Parliament, who once commanded the Lebanese Forces in North Lebanon, and better known for his 'feats' on the infamous 'Berbara Crossing' & for dousing hapless villagers with gasoline before they were torched! As for Hariri's 'previous hasty accusations':

Do you remember Mehlis's 'Mr. X' (Nabih Berri) who (allegedly) discussed 'whacking' Rafic Hariri with Rustom Ghazaleh?

Do you remember how Elias Murr's name was 'suddenly' erased from Mehlis's report (on financing the assassination) when he 'suddenly' accused Ghazaleh of 'threatening him'?

And finally, do you remember the Mehlis-Lehmann 'offer' to Gen. Jamil Assayed to deliver a 'worthy Syrian' to them in exchange for Assayed's freedom. (Details (recorded in Audio by Assayed) elaborate on Lehmann's 'offer' & the ensuing scenario whereby the 'worthy Syrian' would be found dead!)...

Gerhard Lehmann with Siniora

"Sunni FUTURE Supporter: "The STL is not as air-tight as Mr. Hariri & his allies kept insisting ..."

LATimes/Blog:

"... Hariri, who for years blamed Syria for his father's death, dropped a bombshell on Monday when he told the Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that it was a mistake to accuse Syria in the giant truck bomb that killed ex-Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri along with 21 others near the St George Hotel on the Beirut waterfront on Feb. 14, 2005, claiming that the charge was politically motivated .....

Lebanese blogger "Mustapha" suggested in a post on his Beirutspring blog that Hariri's full-out apology to Syria will likely not go down well with many of Hariri's supporters ... "There will definitely be a sense of betrayal with many of the Future Movement rank-and-files who spent the last 5 years of their lives burning bridges with Syria and Syrians and wasting energy on convincing people that the Syrian regime is pure evil," he wrote in a post.

So what could have pushed Hariri to say what he did?

"Mustapha" reflected on a couple of what he thought could be reasons, including domestic and regional political pressure and issues related to the controversy-riddled international tribunal which is believed to be issuing indictments in his father's murder before the end of this year.

"Could Mr. Hariri have sold-out justice for his father to political expediency (or Saudi pressure)?," asked the blogger. "Does Mr. Hariri know something about the upcoming STL (Special Tribunal for Lebanon) indictment? Wouldn’t that mean that the Tribunal is not as air-tight as Mr. Hariri and his allies keep insisting?"....

Another Lebanese blogger, Oussama Hayek, who describes himself as a "Lebanese Libertarian Atheist," expressed a dose of skepticism over Hariri's apology to Syria, writing in a blog post that Hariri's choice of words shows he has given in to domestic political pressures over the tribunal.

"Hariri is playing into the hands of those (Hizbollah) who are attempting to discredit the entire investigation," he wrote.....

Mroue, meanwhile, emphasized the importance of Hariri reconciling with Syria for the future of the Lebanese democratization process as well as for his own stature as prime minister. "This dramatic burying of the hatchet with Damascus brings into sharp focus his role as leader of the government. Saad Hariri is extricating himself from heavy political shackles, and he has created the opportunity to undertake the construction challenges that have been holding back the maturation of Lebanon’s democracy," he wrote.

Commenting on Hariri's statements, Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said that Hariri is convinced of his ties with the Syrian president and the political relationship with Damascus, according to local media reports.

"This is his conviction and it is better than letting anyone convince him about it," Jumblatt told the Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper."

Posted by G, Z, or B at 5:10 PM 0 comments


River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian