Sayyed Nasrallah on Hariri Probe on 15-01-2007
Source: Compiled by Moqawama.org, 15-1-2007
Nasrallah details objections to reform proposal: "The Lebanese people cannot bear any additional taxes,"
"It is a big scandal for the US & France to reject naming the countries in Hariri probe"
BEIRUT: In his first public comments of 2007, during an interview with Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anbaa, to be published today, Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah slammed the government and the parliamentary majority over the weekend in a wide-ranging interview touching on the Paris III donor conference, the government`s reform plan and the opposition`s demand for a larger share of Cabinet.
He criticized the government for rushing the approval of a reform plan to be submitted to international donors in Paris on January 25. "We support any regional or international conference that might help Lebanon ... but the problem lies in the reform plan, which we believe will not rescue the country but only plunge it into more debt, taxes and corruption," the Hizbullah secretary general said.
He noted that "the entire" reform plan had been approved in a single Cabinet session.
"I am sure that the majority of ministers who voted for the plan has neither read it nor discussed it. This is the danger of being governed by one party," Nasrallah said.
"They [ministers] promised to discuss it with all of the country`s economic and political parties ... but nothing happened. They just approved it without any discussions," he said. "The opposition`s protests do not aim at hampering the Paris III conference, but at protesting against the government`s monopoly of the decision-making process."
Increased Taxes
Nasrallah said Prime Minister Fouad Siniora`s economic reform proposal, which is to be presented to the donor states in Paris on January 25, would only lead the country into "more debt, taxes and corruption."
However, he added, Hizbullah`s criticism of the plan did not mean the group was against Paris III - or that it was trying to stall it. "The opposition`s protests do not aim at hampering the Paris III conference," Nasrallah stressed.
Critiquing the content of the reform plan, Nasrallah said that "when it comes to taxes, the paper outlines set agendas and schedules, timetables, numbers and percentages. However, all those numbers disappear when it comes to social services. They say `we will do this,` `we will fix that` ... with no fixed date, leaving the way for meaningless slogans and promises without mentioning any projects.
"The Lebanese people cannot bear any additional taxes," Nasrallah said.
The resistance leader said Lebanon`s largest problems were "corruption and squandering, which have been accompanying the governing team since 1992."
Nasrallah said that a technical report conducted by Hizbullah on each item of the reform plan would be published this week.
Discussing a wide range of controversial issues, Nasrallah said an international tribunal to try those accused of assassinating former Premier Rafik Hariri should not be approved by a government considered "unconstitutional" by a "majority" of the Lebanese people, the country`s president and Parliament.
Criminals to be tried
"We are looking for legal guarantees, not an acquittal from any political figure. We want an international tribunal that sues criminals, not a tribunal to be used by a Lebanese political party or the US in order to dominate our country," Nasrallah said.
He also reiterated his call for the formation of a national unity government.
"The Americans are preventing the formation of a government with a guaranteeing third because such a government will not always be responsive to the requests of the US administration," he said.
UN peacekeeping
Commenting on allegations of house-to-house searches, Nasrallah warned that the United Nations peacekeeping force in South Lebanon should "stick to their mission," or else Hizbullah will "resolve any violation of that mission through direct contacts with UNIFIL officials and countries."
"We do not want any tense relations between Hizbullah and UNIFIL. On the contrary, we are keen on preserving very good ties with the international forces while abiding by the tasks they are charged with," he said.
Nasrallah later thanked majority leader MP Saad Hariri for ruling out Hizbullah involvement in the 2005 assassination of his father.
"But when the international tribunal will be established, Hariri will not be the judge who says who is innocent and who is not," Nasrallah said.
Regarding sit-ins being held by the General Labor Confederation (GLC), Nasrallah dismissed claims the demonstrations were "weak and unsuccessful" because of their relatively low numbers. "This is not true," Nasrallah said. "We are ready to sit for a new test and we will see if people are tired and bored."
A "cover up" in political Hariri probe
Sayyed Nasrallah denounced U.S. and French opposition to letting the chief U.N. investigator in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri identify the countries he feels are hindering the probe.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the U.N. Security Council debate over naming the 10 nations was further proof that the investigation into Hariri`s February 2005 killing was being politicized.
"It is a big scandal for the United States and France to reject naming these countries in the Security Council. The big question is why?" Nasrallah said in an interview with the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anbaa. Excerpts were carried Sunday by the official National News Agency and Hizbullah`s own Al-Manar TV station.
The bombing that killed Hariri was widely blamed on Syria, and mass street protests by Lebanese over the slaying and international pressure forced the Damascus regime to end a nearly three-decade Syrian military occupation of its smaller neighbor.
U.N. officials had earlier accused Syria of resisting the Hariri investigation, in which the suspects include several pro-Syria Lebanese generals.
But in his fourth report to the Security Council on Dec. 16, chief investigator Serge Brammertz said Syria was now assisting his team in a "timely and efficient" manner. He said, however, that 10 other countries had failed to respond to 22 requests for information.
"If this cooperation will not improve in the future, I will mention those countries to the secretary-general," Brammertz told reporters last month, adding he didn`t intend to make the names public.
Nasrallah described this as a "cover-up" that "raises a lot of suspicions."
"This is a scandal that confirms that the investigation is being politicized," he said, reiterating his pro-Syrian party`s long-standing position.
He warned against the tribunal becoming "a political weapon in the hands of a Lebanese political side or in the hands of the United States or any other country."
Nasrallah details objections to reform proposal: "The Lebanese people cannot bear any additional taxes,"
"It is a big scandal for the US & France to reject naming the countries in Hariri probe"
BEIRUT: In his first public comments of 2007, during an interview with Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anbaa, to be published today, Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah slammed the government and the parliamentary majority over the weekend in a wide-ranging interview touching on the Paris III donor conference, the government`s reform plan and the opposition`s demand for a larger share of Cabinet.
He criticized the government for rushing the approval of a reform plan to be submitted to international donors in Paris on January 25. "We support any regional or international conference that might help Lebanon ... but the problem lies in the reform plan, which we believe will not rescue the country but only plunge it into more debt, taxes and corruption," the Hizbullah secretary general said.
He noted that "the entire" reform plan had been approved in a single Cabinet session.
"I am sure that the majority of ministers who voted for the plan has neither read it nor discussed it. This is the danger of being governed by one party," Nasrallah said.
"They [ministers] promised to discuss it with all of the country`s economic and political parties ... but nothing happened. They just approved it without any discussions," he said. "The opposition`s protests do not aim at hampering the Paris III conference, but at protesting against the government`s monopoly of the decision-making process."
Increased Taxes
Nasrallah said Prime Minister Fouad Siniora`s economic reform proposal, which is to be presented to the donor states in Paris on January 25, would only lead the country into "more debt, taxes and corruption."
However, he added, Hizbullah`s criticism of the plan did not mean the group was against Paris III - or that it was trying to stall it. "The opposition`s protests do not aim at hampering the Paris III conference," Nasrallah stressed.
Critiquing the content of the reform plan, Nasrallah said that "when it comes to taxes, the paper outlines set agendas and schedules, timetables, numbers and percentages. However, all those numbers disappear when it comes to social services. They say `we will do this,` `we will fix that` ... with no fixed date, leaving the way for meaningless slogans and promises without mentioning any projects.
"The Lebanese people cannot bear any additional taxes," Nasrallah said.
The resistance leader said Lebanon`s largest problems were "corruption and squandering, which have been accompanying the governing team since 1992."
Nasrallah said that a technical report conducted by Hizbullah on each item of the reform plan would be published this week.
Discussing a wide range of controversial issues, Nasrallah said an international tribunal to try those accused of assassinating former Premier Rafik Hariri should not be approved by a government considered "unconstitutional" by a "majority" of the Lebanese people, the country`s president and Parliament.
Criminals to be tried
"We are looking for legal guarantees, not an acquittal from any political figure. We want an international tribunal that sues criminals, not a tribunal to be used by a Lebanese political party or the US in order to dominate our country," Nasrallah said.
He also reiterated his call for the formation of a national unity government.
"The Americans are preventing the formation of a government with a guaranteeing third because such a government will not always be responsive to the requests of the US administration," he said.
UN peacekeeping
Commenting on allegations of house-to-house searches, Nasrallah warned that the United Nations peacekeeping force in South Lebanon should "stick to their mission," or else Hizbullah will "resolve any violation of that mission through direct contacts with UNIFIL officials and countries."
"We do not want any tense relations between Hizbullah and UNIFIL. On the contrary, we are keen on preserving very good ties with the international forces while abiding by the tasks they are charged with," he said.
Nasrallah later thanked majority leader MP Saad Hariri for ruling out Hizbullah involvement in the 2005 assassination of his father.
"But when the international tribunal will be established, Hariri will not be the judge who says who is innocent and who is not," Nasrallah said.
Regarding sit-ins being held by the General Labor Confederation (GLC), Nasrallah dismissed claims the demonstrations were "weak and unsuccessful" because of their relatively low numbers. "This is not true," Nasrallah said. "We are ready to sit for a new test and we will see if people are tired and bored."
A "cover up" in political Hariri probe
Sayyed Nasrallah denounced U.S. and French opposition to letting the chief U.N. investigator in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri identify the countries he feels are hindering the probe.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the U.N. Security Council debate over naming the 10 nations was further proof that the investigation into Hariri`s February 2005 killing was being politicized.
"It is a big scandal for the United States and France to reject naming these countries in the Security Council. The big question is why?" Nasrallah said in an interview with the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anbaa. Excerpts were carried Sunday by the official National News Agency and Hizbullah`s own Al-Manar TV station.
The bombing that killed Hariri was widely blamed on Syria, and mass street protests by Lebanese over the slaying and international pressure forced the Damascus regime to end a nearly three-decade Syrian military occupation of its smaller neighbor.
U.N. officials had earlier accused Syria of resisting the Hariri investigation, in which the suspects include several pro-Syria Lebanese generals.
But in his fourth report to the Security Council on Dec. 16, chief investigator Serge Brammertz said Syria was now assisting his team in a "timely and efficient" manner. He said, however, that 10 other countries had failed to respond to 22 requests for information.
"If this cooperation will not improve in the future, I will mention those countries to the secretary-general," Brammertz told reporters last month, adding he didn`t intend to make the names public.
Nasrallah described this as a "cover-up" that "raises a lot of suspicions."
"This is a scandal that confirms that the investigation is being politicized," he said, reiterating his pro-Syrian party`s long-standing position.
He warned against the tribunal becoming "a political weapon in the hands of a Lebanese political side or in the hands of the United States or any other country."
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