BEIRUT: Politicians warned on Sunday of Lebanon entering “a dark place” as scathing rhetoric fueled the furor surrounding the United Nations probe into the death of former premier Rafik Hariri. The probe into Hariri's 2005 assassination has been the subject of intense scrutiny in recent days after accusations by former Major General Jamil al-Sayyed, an erstwhile suspect in the case held for four years without trial. Following a press conference last week, Sayyed accused current Prime Minister Saad Hariri of fabricating false witnesses in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) – a charge that has brought a state prosecutor summons for the former intelligence chief. Sayyed returned to Beirut Saturday and departed the airport amid heavy Hizbullah protection, local media reports said. Hizbullah issued a terse warning against any indictment aimed at Sayyed. “The party will cut the unjust hands that would attack Major General Sayyed,” Hizbullah sources told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat in remarks published Sunday. “Sayyed and Hizbullah abide by the law. We are very keen on the state and its apparatuses but we are aware that some judges are politicized and dishonest, [something] that we oppose,” the sources said. Hariri was due to return to Beirut later Sunday in an attempt to placate a rising tide of belligerent, sectarian rhetoric, similar to violent dialogue which preceded deadly clashes between pro-government and opposition gunmen in May 2008. More than 60 people died in the fighting, which led to the signing of the Doha agreement, supposedly guaranteeing stability and equity among Lebanon's tripartite sect-sharing parliamentary system. There are fears Hizbullah members may be indicted by the STL for their alleged hand in the massive car bomb which struck Hariri's motorcade on 14 Feburary, 2005, killing him and 22 others. Blame at the time was laid at Syria's door, although Damascus repeatedly denied involvement. Saad Hariri retracted the allegation last month, calling the charge against Syria “a political accusation.” Any implication of Hizbullah members in the crime could rupture Lebanon's delicate political balance, returning the country to inter-sectarian violence. Hizbullah bloc member Ali Fayyad, in a Sunday statement, warned that “the current confessional speeches drive the situation in the country into the unforeseen.” Sayyed, who was head of Lebanese General Security, was arrested along with three other top security officials in 2005 under former STL head Detlev Mehlis's supervision, has demanded that the issue of false witnesses in the investigation be revisited. The UN court has granted permission for Sayyed to view investigators' files, but members of Hariri's March 14 governmental bloc have voiced concerns in view of the former general's close ties to Hizbullah. “Blocking the opening of [the false witness] file hinders the unveiling of the truth,” Fayyad said. A raft of high profile politicians have weighed in on the debate, with Progressive Socialist Party Leader Walid Jumblatt suggesting that the need for internal stability outweighed the rights of victims for justice. The STL, which has said it expects indictments before the end of the year, has been dogged by accusations of politicization since its inception.
