Israeli Media: Saudis Urge Hariri to Accept Compromise!

29/12/2010 Once again, the Israeli enemy chose to engage, through its media, into the leaks concerning the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and its predicted indictment over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri’s case, as well as the efforts spared by Syria and Saudi Arabia to find an exit from the tense crisis.

In this context, Israeli daily Haaretz said on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia is compounding Arab pressure on Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri to reject an international tribunal investigating the February 2005 assassination of his father.

The Israeli daily quoted “exclusive” sources as saying that the Saudis, considered the Hariri family's patrons, have stepped up pressure on Hariri to convince him to accept the "compromise" planned by Saudi Arabia and Syria that aims to defuse Lebanon's political crisis.

The Israeli daily expressed belief that the fact that Saudi Arabia has joined Syria in pressuring Hariri suggests that the chances have increased significantly that the prime minister will accept the deal.

According to Haaretz exclusive information, the proposed compromise involves Hariri relinquishing the demand that the international tribunal investigate his father's assassination. He would have to make a statement in which he expresses his rejection of the tribunal's work.

In return for Hariri's cooperation, Hezbollah would guarantee that it would not harm the prime minister, Haaretz claimed, adding that the compromise also states that Hezbollah would also avoid any overt military activities and Hariri would be allowed to maintain his own security apparatus.

Hariri would apparently be supported by Hezbollah in efforts to disarm Palestinian groups operating outside the refugee camps in the country, even though their numbers are minor compared to those inside the camps, Haaretz went on to say. Such a move would be interpreted as another reassertion of Lebanese sovereignty in line with the Taif Agreement of 1989, which ended the Lebanese Civil War.

Haaretz, meanwhile, quoted Western sources as saying that the international tribunal is expected to issue indictments in mid-January against some of the suspects in the assassination. But at this stage there are no plans to release the details or the identities of the suspects, the sources added.

The information will be kept under wraps until the judge investigating the murder completes the evaluation of the information, the sources emphasized, noting that the details of the indictments are expected to be made public by April.

However, the Israeli daily said that it was expected that information will leak and the indictments will say senior Hezbollah members had a role in Rafiq Hariri's murder.

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