Hezbollah slams 'dishonest' UN investigation of Hariri killing

The Lebanese-Shi'ite militia Hezbollah on Friday attacked an international investigation into the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, describing its work as politicized and dishonest.

Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Iranian-backed Islamist movement, said in a televised address that this week's release of four Lebanese generals held since August 2005 in connection with the killing was "conclusive proof" that the international investigation had been unfair.

The Hague-based Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Wednesday ordered the release of the four generals seen as pillars of a Lebanese state dominated by neighbouring Syria at the time of the killing.

The generals were among a number of Syrian and Lebanese officials implicated in a preliminary report by the international investigation. The head of the inquiry at the time, Detlev Mehlis, requested their detention.

Syria has always denied any involvement in the assassination, which led to its military withdrawal from Lebanon. The generals always said they were innocent.

The prosecutor said in his filing to the court on Wednesday that an assessment of evidence had not proved sufficiently credible to warrant indictments due to inconsistencies in potentially key witness statements and a lack of corroborative evidence.

"After four years, the truth of the falsification and politicization of the work of the international investigation commission has become clear," said Nasrallah, a close ally of Syria whose group backed the generals' campaign for freedom.

"Today, I hope that nobody will ask us in advance to accept anything from the prosecutor, or the international investigation, or the judges of the tribunal simply because it issued a correct decision two days ago," he added.

The Hariri killing plunged Lebanon into its worst internal crisis since the 1975-90 civil war, opening a political chasm between opponents of Syria's influence in the country and its allies.

The international investigation into the killing, which was followed by more assassinations targeting anti-Syrian figures, was established by the UN Security Council, which Hezbollah regularly accuses of bias.

Nasrallah attacked the United Nations over what he said was recent criticism of his group by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in remarks over Hezbollah's activities in Egypt.

"Mr. Ban Ki-moon is dragging the United Nations into a confrontation with Hezbollah and with the resistance movements in the region," Nasrallah said.