Former Lebanese premier warns of exploiting UN Hariri investigation findings

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Salim al-Hoss warned against unjustly accusing Syria of the consequences of the assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafiq al-Hariri.

Al-Hoss said in a statement published Tuesday that all Lebanese feel concerned over what could be announced by UN Commission into the Rafiq al-Hariri assassination, lead by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis.

He added that some Lebanese feel concerned over the possibility that random accusations could incite sedition among the Lebanese.

The former Premier stressed that, anyway, the findings of the investigations into the heinous crime should not affect the fate of a people or a nation, adding that big powers in the world have certain aims in Lebanon and through it in the Middle East.

Meantime, some Lebanese parties and Palestinian factions condemned the American interference in Lebanon's internal affairs. In a meeting in Sidon, South Lebanon, on Monday, the parties said that the US directly interferes in Lebanon's internal affairs and seeks to incite sedition among the Lebanese.

The parties stressed "the importance of uncovering the truth behind the assassination of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri". For their parts, Lebanese Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabani and Deputy Chairman of the Islamic Shiite Council, Abdel Amir Qabalan, called on the Lebanese people to unify their ranks in facing the pressures Lebanon is exposed to.

They called on the Lebanese people "for resisting all attempts to partition the country and to face the imminent dangers."