BEIRUT: Hizbullah members will be implicated in the death of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri when the United Nations-backed court issues indictments, sources close to the investigation said Monday. The Wall Street Journal said that “between two and six members of the militant group Hizbullah” would be the subject of arrest warrants “by the year-end,” in line with expectations from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). The court, which has been plagued by accusations of politicization since its inception in 2009 – and is currently the target of fierce criticism from opposition MPs and their supporters, is expected to show that former Hizbullah Military Commander Imad Mughaniyeh had a part to play in Hariri's assassination. “Mughaniyeh, who was killed in a 2008 car bombing in Damascus, Syria, is also believed by UN investigators to have played a role, along with his brother-in-law, in the car bombing in downtown Beirut that killed Hariri and 22 others, according to the people briefed on the probe,” the WSJ wrote. Last week the United States government approved an additional $10 million funding for the STL, which is facing a cash shortfall should defiant members of the Lebanese cabinet deem the court unconstitutional and vote against continued state support. STL President Antonio Cassese told journalists at The Hague that while he hoped indictments would be issued in the coming weeks, the decisions to issue arrest warrants laid with Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, who has been conspicuous by his absence since antipathy against investigators has swelled. “We want to show that our international tribunal can do justice in an impartial way, free from bias,” Cassese said. The paper said that while court sources would not comment on the progress of indictments, the prosecution's case is thought to hinge on intelligence obtained from mobile phone taps. “Much of the tribunal's case rests on intercepts of cell phone communications among the alleged assassins in February 2005, according to individuals briefed on the case,” the WSJ reported. “The alleged perpetrators initially worked through a closed cell-phone network. This protection was compromised when one of the group's members called his girlfriend, according to these people.” Hizbullah has warned of the consequences should anticipated indictments against party members materialize. Last week, Hizbullah number 2 Naim Qassem told BBC Arabic that “such an indictment is a warning bell equivalent to lighting the fuse, to igniting the wick for an explosion, and this is dangerous for Lebanon.”
