STL aims to spark Shia-Sunni tension

One objective of the US-sponsored Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) is to provoke tension between Sunnis and Shias in Lebanon by indicting Hezbollah members, says a journalist.

“I think one of the objectives of indicting Hezbollah politically is to create tension between the Sunnis and Shias in Lebanon,” Dr. Omar Nashabi, with al-Akhbar newspaper from Beirut told Press TV.

“And I think that this is why Hezbollah is taking a strong stand against the tribunal because it wants to avoid this kind of tension between Sunnis and Shias. Because [Hezbollah Secretary General] Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah is fully conscious that such tension would actually only serve the interests of Israel,” Nashabi added.

After more than a year in office, Saad Hariri was forced to step down as Lebanon’s prime minister following the resignation of more than one-third of his 30-member cabinet.

Unconfirmed reports have said that the US-sponsored STL will name some Hezbollah members in connection with the massive car bombing that killed former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri and more than 20 others on the Beirut in February 2005.

The tribunal, created two years after Hariri’s assassination and supported by the US, has sparked tension and plunged the country into its worst political crisis since 2008.