Shatah's Assassination, Recent 'Crimes' to be Referred to Judicial Council
The Higher Defense Council agreed on Saturday to refer the assassination case of ex-Finance Minister Mohammed Shatah and the "latest crimes" to the Judicial Council, Caretaker Premier Najib Miqati and the HDC announced.
“During our meeting with (President Michel) Suleiman, the caretaker Justice Minister joined us, so we asked him to prepare the appropriate documents to refer yesterday’s crime and the recent crimes to the Judicial Council,” Miqati said following an emergency HDC meeting at Baabda Palace.
The caretaker premier did not reveal which crimes will be referred to the Judicial Council, which is the country's highest judicial authority.
In recent months, a series of explosions have struck districts dominated by Hizbullah, apparently in retaliation for the group's decision to dispatch its fighters to Syria.
The latest was twin suicide bombings targeting the Iranian embassy in Beirut's southern suburbs in November.
There were deadly twin car bombings that hit two Sunni mosques in the northern city of Tripoli in August.
Hizbullah military commander Hassan Hollo al-Laqqis was also assassinated earlier this month near his residence in Hadath, south of Beirut.
Caretaker Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi told LBCI TV that al-Laqqis' murder was not among the crimes that will be tackled by the council.
Shatah, who was ex-Premier Saad Hariri's adviser and a former ambassador, was killed on Friday in car bombing in downtown Beirut.
Miqati hoped for limiting the tense rhetoric, saying “it's not the time for settling political scores … and launching accusations.”
“The revival of trust between the different parties has become a priority,” he said. “We have to search for a road that does not lead to the abyss.”
He called for dialogue to end the crises gripping the country and appealed for the swift formation of “a government that does not exclude anyone.”
Addressing the Lebanese, he said: “Let's revive the commitment to the dissociation policy.”
“We would prevent strife and conflicts in our land if we stayed away from the developments in Syria,” he said.
“It's been years that we have been witnessing divisions … The Lebanese are fed up,” he said.
Miqati called for cooperation between the rival camps to protect the nation, saying remorse will be useless.
Describing Shatah as an “intellectual,” he extended his condolences to the former finance minster's family and the relatives of several others killed in the bombing.
The blast was a target to Lebanon's stability, he said.
Following Miqati's remarks, the HDC issued its statement, saying it was committed to fighting terrorism.
“We will confront all terrorist attempts to target Lebanon,” said HDC general secretary Gen. Mohammed Kheir.
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