US condemns Hezbollah threats over Lebanon tribunal

Oct 29, 2010, 23:59 GMT

Washington - The United States Friday condemned warnings by Lebanon's militant Hezbollah leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah against cooperation with an international tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri.

'Efforts to discredit, hinder or politicize the tribunal's work serve only to increase instability and tension inside Lebanon as well as in the region, and should not be tolerated,' said US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley.

'We condemn threats as yet another manoeuvre by Hezbollah to try to deny the Lebanese people the truth and justice that they deserve,' he said.

Crowley said he hoped that Hezbollah would not disrupt the court's proceedings.

'We are committed to support the work of the tribunal. And we'll do everything that we can ... not to influence it, just to give it the opportunity to continue its work,' he said.

He said Nasrallah's remarks indicated that 'Hezbollah does not have the interest of all the Lebanese people.'

Hariri was riding in a motorcade when he was killed by a car bomb in February 2005, prompting international outrage and suspicions that Syria was complicit in the attack. Syria has rejected the accusations.

Two investigators affiliated with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the assassination were assaulted Wednesday, raising concerns of potentially violent retributions and political instability.

Tensions have run high in Lebanon since reports surfaced that the UN-backed tribunal is poised to indict members of the radical Shiite movement in the murder.

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