STL Confirms Lebanon’s Commitment to Implement Arrest Warrants

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon, probing the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri, reiterated its confidence that the Lebanese cabinet is committed to its cooperation with the tribunal to carry out the implementation of the arrest warrants against the four suspects who are members of Hizbullah.

“The Lebanese authorities had taken reasonable measures” to implement the arrest warrants, an official source at the STL told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Friday.

He said that trial in absentia doesn’t cancel Lebanon’s commitment to continue tracking down the suspects and transferring them to The Hague where the court is based.

The sources stressed on the importance of differentiating between “taking reasonable measures and obtaining definite results,” noting that General Prosecutor Saeed Mirza has to submit a monthly report about the Lebanese authorities’ efforts in this matter.

Four members from Hizbullah have been indicted by the STL.

They are Salim Ayyash, 47, Mustafa Badreddine, 50, Hussein Oneissi, 37 and Assad Sabra, 34.

Ayyash and Badreddine face five charges including that of "committing a terrorist act by means of an explosive device" and homicide, while Oneissi and Sabra face charges of conspiring to commit the same acts.

The whereabouts of the four men are currently unknown.

The source reiterated the tribunal’s confidence that Lebanon will continue its cooperation with the STL, saying: “PM Najib Miqati’s statements confirm this commitment, especially over the funding.”

Asked about the measures that the international court can take if the Lebanese cabinet hindered its cooperation with the STL, he said that the international community can pressure Lebanon, ruling out the possibility of imposing any sanctions on it.

The source noted that the tribunal formed a defense team from 30 lawyers including Lebanese and international lawyers, whereby each suspect has 6 lawyers, to represent the defendants in absentia.

In August, Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ruled out the arrest of the four suspects, hinting that the STL was heading for a trial in absentia.

He said that the tribunal lacked sufficient evidence to implicate members of his group.

Concerning the false witnesses issue and the STL’s position from Mohammed Zuhair al-Siddiq, the source denied that the tribunal has any of them, saying that “a false witness is the person that gives a false testimony under oath.”

However, the source refused to confirm if there were any witnesses under the witness protection program.

Al-Siddiq is a former witness whose testimonies led to the four-year detention of four pro-Syrian Lebanese generals.

The source said that the tribunal didn’t consider that the four generals are innocent, but it didn’t have enough evidence to justify their detention back then.

“The detention of the four suspects wasn’t a decision taken by the international tribunal but by the Lebanese authorities,” the source added.