Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters through a screen during a religious ceremony on the eve of Ashura in Beirut's suburbs 15 December 2010. (Reuters)
Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah accused the Lebanese government Wednesday of abetting false witnesses and supporting a corrupt investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri.
Nasrallah criticised the UN-backed international tribunal charged with investigating the assassination after parliament convened and once again failed to settle the issue, reported the Lebanese daily Assafir.
The Shia militant group called on the government to leave the tribunal to the movement. "Leave this problem to us and the tribunal, for we are able to face up to it alone and defend ourselves," Nasrallah said on the eve of the Shia rite of Ashura, as quoted in AFP.
The tribunal investigating the assassination of Al-Hariri has been a source of discord and uncertainty in Lebanon. Hizbullah previously denounced the tribunal as a US-Israeli project.
"The day is coming when this tribunal and all those who conspired with it will face a scandal bigger than those that WikiLeaks has unveiled," Nasrallah declared Wednesday.
Tensions have mounted as the tribunal is expected to issue indictments against Hizbullah affiliates. "The world is waiting tomorrow to see your faces ... your resolve," Nasrallah said. "Tomorrow we meet to tell the world that all Israel's threats of war cannot undermine our resolve."
His speech followed an announcement made by the Lebanese military that Israeli spy systems were found in the country's mountains. Nasrallah said that the group is ready to repel any future Israeli offensive.
"The resistance is working day and night and training day and night," Israel's Haaretz quoted Nasrallah as saying. The Hizbullah is expected to speak again after Thursday's commemoration of Ashura.
Short link: