07 August 2010
BEIRUT: Hizbullah’s former Secretary General Sheikh Sobhi Toufeili is calling for a change in the party’s leadership, saying that “change could provide a way out over the issue of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).”
In remarks published by the pan-Arab newspaper Ash-Sharq al-Awsat Friday, Toufeili questioned threats by “certain parties of new May 7” incidents, a reference to Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s warning that his party would not accept an indictment by the STL against members of the party.
On May 7, 2008, clashes broke out between pro-opposition and pro-government gunmen following the Cabinet’s decision to dismantle Hizbullah’s telecommunications network which almost led the country to civil war.
Analysts fear that sectarian tensions could rise again, threatening of similar incidents if the impending indictment by the UN-backed tribunal accuses members of Hizbullah of involvement in the murder, as western media reports claim. “Change [in Hizbullah’s leadership] could provide a way out on the issue of the STL and a revival of political action, while a pardon by the Hariri family, which I have called for, would serve the same purpose,” Toufeili said.
Commenting on the recent cross-border clash between the Lebanese and Israeli army, Toufeili questioned whether the incident was planned. “The issue is whether the decision [to challenge Israel] was an emergency one taken under a certain political atmosphere at a certain time or what happened was part of a general policy?” he asked.
In the fiercest clashes since the summer war of 2006, Lebanese and Israeli troops exchanged fire after Israeli soldiers attempted to uproot a tree on the Lebanese side of the fenced border, Lebanese officials reported.
Copyright The Daily Star 2010.
