BEIRUT–Lebanon braced on Friday for a possible backlash after a UN-backed tribunal issued an indictment in the 2005 murder of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, amid reports top Hezbollah members were named.
Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Shiite militant party, set to make a televised address on Saturday that will mark his first reaction to the sealed indictment and arrest warrants that have triggered fears of sectarian unrest in the volatile country.
Hezbollah, blacklisted as a terrorist organization by Washington, has repeatedly warned that it would not sit idle should any of its militants be targeted for the 14 February, 2005 seaside bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others.
All eyes today are on how Prime Minister Najib Mikati's new government, dominated by Hezbollah and its allies, will respond to the indictment and whether it seeks to carry out arrests in the case.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged Lebanese authorities to cooperate in handing over suspects for trial at the Netherlands-based Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).
"The secretary general calls on all states to support the independent judicial process, in particular by cooperating with the Special Tribunal in the execution of the indictment and arrest warrants," a spokesperson said in New York.
The content of the indictment remains confidential, along with the identities of the four alleged Lebanese suspects, but local media have reported the names of top Hezbollah members they say were named.
Among them is Mustafa Badreddine, brother-in-law of top Hezbollah operative Imad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated in a 2008 bombing in Damascus.
Badreddine, who was said to have supervised the Hariri assassination, had previously been arrested in Kuwait for planning to bomb the US embassy.
Also named is Salim Ayyash, a Hezbollah member who holds US citizenship and headed the cell that carried out the bombing.
Hariri's son and political heir, former prime minister Saad Hariri, has hailed the indictment as a "historic" moment for Lebanon, while his ally the United States said the move was "an important step towards justice and ending impunity for political assassinations in Lebanon."
The Iranian- and Syrian-backed party, the most powerful political and military force in Lebanon, engineered the collapse of Saad Hariri's Western-backed unity government in January after he refused to end cooperation with the tribunal.
Mikati, his successor, was appointed with the blessing of Hezbollah. The billionaire businessman has not taken a clear stand on whether his government would continue cooperating with the STL.
In an ambiguously worded policy statement on Thursday, he said Lebanon would respect international resolutions as long as they did not threaten the civil peace.
The opposition "March 14" coalition headed by Saad Hariri said this was a clear sign Mikati's government would not abide by its international obligations.
Lebanese newspapers were divided Friday on the significance of the indictment. Those close to Hariri hailed it as a triumph of justice and others supportive of Hezbollah questioned the motive and timing.
"Time is up for the killers, now is the time for justice," said an editorial in Al-Mustaqbal newspaper.
Al-Akhbar newspaper claimed that the indictment was linked to preparations for a new Israeli war on Lebanon. Hezbollah fought a devastating war with the Jewish state in 2006.
Lebanon has 30 days to serve out the STL arrest warrants. If the suspects are not arrested within that period, the tribunal can then publicly call on them to surrender.
The STL, set up in The Hague in 2009 by the United Nations, is the first international court with jurisdiction to try an act of terrorism.
The Hariri murder sparked a wave of massive protests in Lebanon which, combined with international pressure, forced Syria to withdraw its troops from the country after a 29-year deployment.
Syria was widely suspected of having a hand in Hariri's murder but has denied involvement.
