April 2, 2010 - Naharnet - Hizbullah's Fayyad Slams Kouchner: He is Not Guardian on Court Matters

Hizbullah MP Ali Fayyad hit back at French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner who said Hizbullah is not "beyond" justice."It's not right for Kouchner to declare himself guardian on court matters since France is not also far from justice because it harbored a witness and refused to hand him over or cooperate and allowed to hide his whereabouts in France, only to appear suddenly in the United Arab Emirates," Fayyad said in remarks published Friday.He was referring to Syrian Mohammed Zuhair Siddiq, a key witness in the 2005 assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri.He hinted at the possibility that the French government could dismiss Kouchner from his duties.Kouchner had said the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is "free" and that Hizbullah is not "far from" from justice."We should not be making a stance. We have to be neutral and leave them (investigators) conduct investigation," Kouchner added.He stressed that a tale published by The German magazine Der Spiegel about Hizbullah's involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri "does not fall within the context of justice, but is just a journalist opinion."