By Hussein Dakroub

BEIRUT: Breaking a nearly four-month silence, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri launched a blistering attack Tuesday on Hezbollah and Prime Minister Najib Mikati, whom he described as “Hezbollah’s surrogate,” vowing to topple his government through “a strong opposition” by the March 14 coalition.

Hariri for the first time publicly blamed Syrian President Bashar Assad and Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah for the toppling of his Cabinet on Jan. 12 when March 8 ministers resigned in a long-running dispute over a U.N.-backed court seeking to uncover the killers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Hariri also pledged not to compromise on truth and justice in the 2005 assassination of his father, saying that Hezbollah’s rejection of the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) will not stop its work.

In a wide-ranging live television interview from his residence in Paris, Hariri warned that Lebanon would pay a price if Hezbollah did not cooperate with the STL by handing over four party members who were accused by the STL’s long-awaited indictment of involvement in the massive bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others on Feb. 14, 2005. In the indictment released on June 30, the STL issued arrest warrants for the four suspects.

“If Hezbollah did not cooperate with the tribunal, then Lebanon would pay the price,” the head of the Future Movement told Lebanese television station MTV.
“If this was Saad Hariri’s government, we could have definitely searched for them [four Hezbollah suspects] and transferred them to the tribunal,” Hariri said. “There are accused persons now. They must appear before the tribunal.”

Hariri said Lebanon’s Shiite community was not a target of the international court. “These are individuals [the tribunal is after],” he said.
“There will be no compromise on truth and justice,” the leader of the March 14 movement said. “There will be no stability without justice.”
Hariri said he decided to break silence in order to put an end to the “misleading” campaign by the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance against the STL’s indictment.

“Sayyed Hasan [Nasrallah] said recently that the tribunal was an Israeli court, that it had previously issued its decisions and it was infiltrated. What I want to say is that if Sayyed Hasan appeared at 300 press conferences, this will not change anything in the indictment which has been issued,” he said.
Nasrallah has rejected the STL’s indictment, vowing never to turn over the four accused members. In a defiant speech on July 2, Nasrallah dismissed the tribunal as an “American-Israeli court,” saying that Lebanese authorities will not be able to arrest the four suspects “even in 300 years.”

Hariri reassured the Lebanese there will be no Sunni-Shiite strife because of the indictment, stressing that his Future Movement was a non-sectarian movement. “The Future Movement is the only movement which is far from sectarianism … Sectarianism is alien to us,” Hariri said, adding: “With regard to those who committed the crime [Hariri’s assassination], if they are found guilty, they are criminals who do not belong to the Sunnis, Shiites or any other religion.”

Hariri called Mikati’s 30-member Cabinet in which Hezbollah and its March 8 allies have a majority, “Hezbollah’s government” and the prime minister “Hezbollah’s surrogate.” He accused Mikati and Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi, with whom he contested the 2009 parliamentary elections in Tripoli, of betraying him.
“They [Hezbollah] are saying they will not cooperate with the international tribunal. Then, the prime minister, who is Hezbollah’s surrogate, says he is committed to [U.N.] Resolution 1757. How is this? How can we believe and whom shall we believe? The international tribunal is existing and no one will remove it,” Hariri said. Resolution 1757 established the STL.

Hariri said he and his March 14 alliance worked for the building of the state, dismissing Mikati’s Cabinet.
“We actually wanted to have a state in Lebanon. Our problem with the government is that it is a government of Hezbollah’s mini-state rather than a government of a state,” Hariri said.
Hariri vowed to topple the Mikati government through “a strong opposition” by the March 14 parties.
“There will be a strong opposition. I don’t think the government will last until the [2013] elections. With complete frankness, we can bring down the government,” Hariri said.

“We are a democratic opposition seeking to topple the government. There are several tools. We can take to the street, staging demonstrations,” he added. Hariri assured the Lebanese that unlike Hezbollah and its allies, the March 14 parties will not close Beirut airport or block roads with burning tires.
“No one should expect the March 14 parties not to stand against this government which we considered to have come through a coup with the force of arms. It is Hezbollah’s government,” Hariri said. He added that the formation of the Cabinet was an “Iranian-Syrian interest.”

Hariri also said that the March 14 coalition’s stance toward the STL did not threaten stability in Lebanon because the alliance does not carry weapons.
He charged that Hezbollah was using the threat of its weapons to coerce the Lebanese into submission. “They want to finish March 14 and Saad Hariri … I’ve said it before and I say it now, I will never abandon my allies,” Hariri said.

Hariri said he will never bargain the STL for Hezbollah’s arms, two issues which have sharply divided the Lebanese into two rival camps.
Despite the tension and deep political schism between the Future Movement and Hezbollah, Hariri said he was ready to meet Nasrallah but in the presence of witnesses.
“I have never been against dialogue. I am ready for dialogue for the interest of Lebanon. But with complete frankness, if I talk to Sayyed Hasan I want to have witnesses,” he said.

Hariri told MTV that he stayed outside Lebanon for nearly four months to give the rival March 8 coalition a chance to form a government. He indicated that he would stay outside the country for a while longer but vowed to return.
“I will return to Beirut as soon as possible,” Hariri said, refusing to give an exact date on his return.
“My absence from Beirut is my own choice at this stage so that the brothers could form the government since I’m always accused of obstructing things in the country,” the former prime minister said.

Hariri dismissed reports that he was in exile due to security concerns, saying: “Threats have been around since 2005,” referring to the period following the assassination of his father, Rafik Hariri.
The March 14 movement, led by Hariri, has vowed to launch a political campaign to topple the government of Mikati for its attitude toward the STL.
Hariri denied he was trying to get international powers to isolate Lebanon.

Western diplomats have also voiced concerns about the new government’s position on The Hague-based court and urged Lebanon to adhere to all international resolutions, particularly the ones dealing with the STL.
Hariri, who was in power just over a year following his appointment in November 2009, also denied that he had indirectly acted to reach a compromise on the STL in order to stay in power.

Hariri said his Future Movement sympathized with the Syrian people in their four-month-long uprising for freedom and reforms. He added that injustice had taken place in Lebanon’s neighbor, but stressed that his party did not interfere in Syria’s affairs.

“We think that what is happening [in parts of Syria] is an injustice,” Hariri said, referring to the security crackdown on Syrians protesting against Assad’s rule.
Asked if he had a message to Assad, Hariri said: “No one is greater than his country. The Syrians are the foundation of the country so you should protect them.”