Sayyed Nasrallah: No Bargain, KSA: Avoid Escalation
The dust cleared in the Lebanese Parliament: no verbal wars and no fistfights but rather a boring farce play that didn't touch the majority's cold nerves but with few some rhetorical fireworks reflecting "March 14" new failures.
The first day of confidence hearings passed calmly. Twenty-four deputies, 15 of whom withheld confidence, 8 gave it while the "Islamic Group" MP Imad al- Hout declined to vote.
Parliament's Scene:
The opposition did not succeed in reaching the expectations that it mentioned a few days ago, and as the session went on Prime Minister Najib Mikati was more than satisfied.
It is clear that the roof of "Bristol's" statement was higher than the roof of speeches made by "March 14" representatives, as if the opposition consumed all its political papers and was exhausted even before the start of confidence discussions. Firing its last stray bullets, the opposition was surprised in front of a new reality: While their leader ex- PM Saad Hariri is outside the political scene, divisions started to appear.
"Attention was given to the decision of the "Islamic Group", as its deputy Imad al-Hout refrained from voting, in a position that holds important implications at the level of Sunni arena," "As-Safir" Lebanese newspaper said.
Mean while, as the first day of parliamentary sessions went on, the title turned from discussing the ministerial statement to focus on the issue of the International Tribunal, and how to deal with its decisions; "a discussion that was delayed nearly six years after the Lebanese government under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora at the time signed the Protocol of this court." "As-Safir" clarified.
"As if we were discussing the Tribunal and not the government's ministerial statement," House Speaker Nabih Berri commented.
On the other hand, PM Mikati's close sources informed "al- Akhbar" news paper "that the opposing team wants to extend speeches till Friday so that they would be accompanied by demonstrations starting from mosques," Noting that "the wheel rubber's price has a quite good price."
For his part, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman told his visitors that "there is no feasible alternative for dialogue and the adoption of quiet speech away from the tensioning."
Sayyed Nasrallah: Neither Afraid nor Worried
Outside the political boredom of the parliament, Hizbullah Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah clearly said that "accusing members of Hizbullah in assassinating former PM Rafik Hariri was a "futile psychological war."
"Hizbullah is neither afraid nor worried, as some media outlets are trying to portray," Sayyed Nasrallah confirmed in a ceremony Hizbullah held on "the Day of the Wounded"
Rejecting that "Hizbullah was seeking to exchange stability for the STL indictment because a bargain would be practically the same as an accusation," His Eminence added that "the biggest injustice against Rafik Hariri is some people's insistence on saying that "Israel" could not have killed him."
"We are the ones saying that justice must be fulfilled and that justice is a prerequisite to stability and that stability without justice would be a fragile stability," Sayyed Nasrallah added.
"Our dispute with some of the Lebanese political forces ... and with a lot of outside forces is about credibility: will the international investigators, the prosecutor and the tribunal, which is headed by a big friend of "Israel", achieve justice?" the S.G. asked.
In the same context, Hizbullah hit back Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare's statement noting that "he did not tackle any of the presented evidence, as he was not able to refute any of the solid facts demonstrated by Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah."
In a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, Hizbullah put forward a "quick summary of Bellemare's failures in clarifying the tribunal's stance" on the issue of "false witnesses" and the file of witness Mohammed Zuheir Siddiq.
Noting that Bellemare "had rejected to probe the possibility of "Israel's" involvement in the assassination crime" and "disregarded the issue of the imprisonment of the Four Generals," the statement clarified "the fact that Bellemare has not denied the issue of the computers transferred to occupied Palestine raises serious questions."
"Bellemare's silence concerning these issues demonstrates how much the tribunal's credibility has corroded," Hizbullah said in its statement.
KSA, EU on STL
Similarly, as the issue of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon looms large over the political landscape, its extensions reached the Gulf as well as the European Union.
"Saudi Arabia "calls on all parties in Lebanon to deal with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's indictment calmly and rationally, away from tensions, and to avoid any escalation," Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said Tuesday.
In a joint press conference with his British counterpart William Hague in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, al-Faisal urged the Lebanese to "work on fulfilling justice and to resort to reason," hoping the release of the indictment will not affect stability in Lebanon.
In the same context, President of the European Union mission in Lebanon Angelina Eichhorst, announced the EU's position on the STL indictment.
"This issue is discussed at the present time in Parliament, and we respect this method of discussion, we have already welcomed the formation of the government, and are following it step by step, and we'll see how the new government will handle the main issues," "An-Nahar" news paper quoted her.
In a press conference attended by the ambassadors of the Union, Eichhorst added "PM Mikati has already said during his meeting with EU ambassadors that he would cooperate with the tribunal, it is important that Lebanon continues cooperation with the court without any obstruction."
