What remains to be seen is whether there is any political will to hold the four accountable in Lebanon, which is now under a Hizballah-dominated government. Left unchallenged for far too long, Hizballah’s parallel state has become a sort of suicide vest wrapped around Lebanon, and an instrument of blackmail whereby Hizballah can threaten to blow the country apart. An update on this story. “‘Interpol issues ‘red notice’ for Hariri suspects’,” from the Jerusalem Post, July 9:
Interpol issued “red notices” for the four suspects named by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005, Lebanon’s Daily Star reported on Saturday.
The notices, which are not international arrest warrants, are a request that the wanted person be arrested with a view to extradition. The four Lebanese men who were named in an STL indictment last week are wanted for trial in the Netherlands, where the STL sits.
The UN-backed tribunal handed indictments and arrest warrants to Lebanon just over a week ago, that officials said accused Hezbollah members of involvement in the assassination of Hariri.
The long-awaited move was hailed as a “historic moment” by Rafik Hariri’s son, Sa’ad, but poses an immediate challenge to the new government of Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, whose cabinet is dominated by Hezbollah allies.
Prosecutor Saeed Mirza gave no details of the indictments. Lebanese officials said four warrants were issued for Hezbollah members including senior leader Mustafa Badreddine, who was jailed in Kuwait in 1983 over a series of bombings and is a brother-in-law of slain Hezbollah commander Imad Moughniyeh….