Speaker Berri: We Back Govt’s Position on STL, Indictment to No Avail

Local Editor

There are "political aspects" to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) indictment, as the release of this indictment does not lead to justice, but rather to 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 he gave at a ceremony commemorating late Shiite scholar Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah.

Berri also called on the government to "restore confidence in the Lebanese Judiciary." He added "we have warned of the STL track and demanded the prosecution of the false witnesses, we see political dimensions to the indictment, which upon issuance constituted one of the tools of "creative chaos" in the country.

Speaker Berri assured that the Resistance arms consist an honor to the country, which remains to defend the country alongside the army.
"As we reiterate Lebanon's commitment to Resolution 1701, we repeat that Lebanon should immediately demarcate its naval borders with "Israel", hand over the maps to the U.N. and deal with any breach as an attack on its sovereignty," the house speaker added.

Berri has urged the Lebanese to return to the national dialogue to overcome the critical stage that Lebanon is going through, warning that refusing dialogue will lead to a deterioration in the situation and create more division.