Parliamentary meeting to discuss the Hariri assassination

The Lebanese opposition received a preliminary consent from the speaker of the Lebanese parliament to convene a general session to discuss the assassination of former prime minister Rafic Hariri. Such discussions will permit the opposition to debate the issue of confidence in the government.

The opposition calls for the resignation of the government which it holds responsible for the assassination operation, if not directly, then "by its negligence." Opposition parliamentarian Ghazi al-Areidi explained that the opposition is waiting for Berri's answer after contacting Prime Minister Karami.

Parliamentary sources considered that this decision, which meets one of the opposition demands, will initially eliminate political tension and current confrontations between the opposition and the authorities.

Meantime, the justice council, the highest judicial commission to which Hariri assassination's case was filed, announced the nomination of judge Michael Abu Arraj to assume the investigations.

The opposition demands an international investigations under the supervision of the UN. In a relevant development, the UN announced on Monday that the team assigned by the UN to investigate in the assassination of Hariri will arrive in Lebanon this week.