Hizbullah accuses UN of meddling in Lebanese affairs

"Ban Ki-moon failed to notice that Hizbullah... has been at the heart of Lebanese politics," group says after UN report on disarmament.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hizbullah Rockets 311 (photo credit: Associated Press)
Hizbullah Rockets 311
(photo credit: Associated Press)
Hizbullah on Wednesday accused the United Nations of meddling in Lebanese civil affairs, according to an AFP report.
The charges came two days after the UN released a report on disarmament in Lebanon, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned of instability in the country.
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"The report released by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Resolution 1559 ... marks interference in internal Lebanese affairs as well as political interference in the affairs of the international tribunal," Hizbullah said in a Wednesday statement.
"It would seem that Ban Ki-moon... failed to notice that Hizbullah, and for quite some time, has been at the heart of Lebanese politics through its representation in parliament and cabinet," read the statement quoted by AFP.
On Tuesday, meanwhile, a UN tribunal carried out a controlled explosion Tuesday at a French military base as part of its investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon said in a statement that the explosion at the Captieux military base in southwest France was watched by a team of international experts who will carry out forensic tests.
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The court said their results will form part of the investigation, but said Tuesday's blast was not intended to replicate the truck bombing that killed Hariri and 22 other people on Beirut's Mediterranean waterfront on February 14, 2005.
"Neither in its method nor in its purpose can the experiment be compared to a crime reconstruction," the statement said.
A billionaire businessman, Hariri was Lebanon's most prominent politician after the country's devastating 15-year civil war ended in 1990.
Speculation that it could indict members of Hizbullah has fueled a political crisis in Lebanon, and Hizbullah contends the tribunal has been poisoned by witnesses who have given false information.