July 17, 2010 - Daily Star - Nasrallah calls Tribunal 'Israeli project'

Hizbullah leader warns espionage networks put STL evidence in doubt
By Elias Sakr

BEIRUT: Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday issued a blanket condemnation of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, calling it an “Israeli project” that aimed to exploit Israel’s penetration of Lebanon’s telecommunications network to manufacture strife.

The Hizbullah leader made his remarks in the wake of three reported arrests of former and current employees at the Alfa mobile phone company, on suspicion of spying for Israel.

Nasrallah suggested that Israel’s infiltration of the telecommunication network would allow manipulating call patterns, among other technical procedures, which discredited the basis of any investigations based on the analysis of mobile phone call records.

“The wager on false witnesses has failed, and the wager today has turned to the telecommunication sector, to build upon to issue an indictment,” Nasrallah said.

Tarek Rabaa, an engineer, has been detained for spying for Israel after being identified as the partner of Charbel Qazzi, a technician at Lebanon’s Alfa mobile service provider.

Qazzi was detained last month by Lebanese authorities on suspicion of providing the Israelis with crucial data. The detainee has confessed to collaborating with Israeli authorities since 1996, reports said.

“Since the false witnesses’ theory did not stand, they went on to fabricate the telecommunications theory to build upon it an indictment … thus the telecommunication world is sacred for those wagering on the STL,” Nasrallah said.

Nasrallah was referring to the case of Zuheir Siddiq, a former witness in the investigation of the 2005 killing of former Premier Rafik Hariri, who later recanted his testimony.

The Hizbullah leader criticized those who have called for playing down the importance of the arrests until the investigations are complete, which he said were aimed at safeguarding the STL’s investigations against suspicions.

“We hear that an indictment will be issued against Hizbullah members,” Nasrallah said, “and those making the claims know of the investigations, and the timing of the indictment, while the investigations with us have barely started, and our brothers in Hizbullah went as witnesses rather than suspects.”

Nasrallah added that his party was preparing a comprehensive report on the STL’s investigations, and that it might be released “soon” to the public.

“When we discover spies, it means discovering the cornerstone in a new plot against the country and the region based on the indictment that will not take place,” Nasrallah added.

He was speaking on the occasion of Hizbullah’s annual commemoration of wounded resistance members.

Nasrallah also questioned whether the Information Department of the Internal Security Forces had prior knowledge of Qazzi’s role before Lebanese Army Intelligence uncovered his alleged activities.

“If the Information Department had knowledge of Qazzi prior to his arrest by Lebanese Army Intelligence; what did they know about him, since when, and why haven’t they arrested him?” Nasrallah asked.

He called on Premier Saad Hariri and Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud to launch a probe into to the issue.

“This is a very big issue,” Nasrallah said. “I have the answer, but we haven’t made any decision yet and we will decide upon the issue based on the response of the Information Department.”

Tackling the issue of Israeli espionage networks in Lebanon, Nasrallah said despite being capable of gathering information through technologically advanced techniques, the human factor remained very essential in planning a list of Israeli targets ahead of any upcoming war against Lebanon.

Nasrallah warned that Lebanon’s telecommunication infrastructure had been totally exposed to Israeli for a “very long time,” which was a major factor in providing to support to Israel in its July 2006 war against Lebanon.

Nasrallah said that the Cabinet’s attempt in May 2008 to dismantle Hizbullah’s telecommunication network was neither innocent nor technical, but rather masterminded by the Israelis, since the resistance's network did not constitute a threat to internal security.

The decision by then-Premier Fouad Siniora’s Cabinet sparked armed clashes in Beirut and the Chouf between government supporters and pro-Hizbullah fighters in May 2008.

Nasrallah called on the Cabinet to launch a probe in the issue to determine those who provoked politicians into taking such a decision, since “the source behind the operation lies in Israel” as the decision almost led to civil strife.

Nasrallah also called on the judiciary and officials to swiftly approve death sentences for all collaborators, irrespective of their religious affiliations. Under the Penal Code, only enemy agents whose activities lead directly to the death of individuals or material destruction can be sentenced to death.

The Hizbullah leader also mocked Lebanon’s strictly confessional political system, expressing his fear that no death sentences would be issued for a collaborator from a given sect, until others from other sects had been discovered, to preserve sectarian “balance.”

He said convicted collaborators, some of whom have been active since the 1990s, should face the death penalty for their crimes.