Newspapers Divided over Hariri Indictment ‘Reflecting Political Rift’
Lebanese newspapers on Friday mirrored the deep political rift in the country after a U.N.-backed tribunal issued indictments in the 2005 assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri.
While dailies loyal to former Premier Saad Hariri hailed Thursday's indictment -- expected to implicate Hizbullah members in the case -- as a triumph of justice, those close to the Shiite group slammed it as another Israeli plot.
"After the truth, comes justice," declared the front-page headline of al-Mustaqbal, a daily owned by the Hariri family.
"Time is up for the killers as the time of justice begins," read the daily's editorial. "It is noteworthy that Hizbullah's leadership has thus far had no comment on the arrest warrants... which all target members of Hizbullah."
Others, however, were less jubilant, with papers close to Hizbullah raising questions over the timing of the indictment.
"It is easy to draw the conclusion... that the political moment the tribunal chose to issue its political indictment is directly linked to ongoing preparation for a new Israeli war on Lebanon's resistance (Hizbullah) and possibly Syria," al-Akhbar columnist Ibrahim al-Amin wrote.
As-Safir, slammed the Netherlands-based tribunal for its secrecy, saying it lacked credibility.
"The indictment did not come as a surprise, but there are several question marks surrounding it," read a front-page editorial.
"The secrecy of the Special Tribunal in notifying authorities of its decisions, of keeping the indictment sealed but leaking names and details to obscure media outlets and websites, is questionable."
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Thursday confirmed it had issued an indictment in the February 14, 2005 bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others.
The indictment is widely expected to implicate members of Hizbullah, a move it has repeatedly warned against.
The tribunal, based near The Hague, has handed Lebanese Prosecutor General Saeed Mirza arrest warrants for four Lebanese but did not disclose their identities.
Leaks had been made to the press in recent years over the names of those implicated, with LBC television network reporting the four were members of Hizbullah.
Among the four is Mustafa Badreddine, brother-in-law of top operative Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in a 2008 bombing in Damascus, according to LBC.
Badreddine was said to have supervised the Hariri assassination. He had previously been arrested in Kuwait for planning to bomb the U.S. embassy, LBC reported.
Salim Ayyash, a Hizbullah member who holds U.S. citizenship and headed the cell that carried out the bombing, is also among the suspects, according to LBC.
The other two members reportedly are Hassan Aneissy, known as Hassan Issa, and Assad Sabra.
Source: Agence France Presse
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