GUILTY, YES. BUT WILL HEZBOLLAH MAN FACE JUSTICE? The conviction Tuesday of Salim Ayyash, a member of Hezbollah, in the 2005 killing of Lebanon’s ex-PM Rafik Hariri was welcomed in Lebanon and internationally. But will Ayyash really face justice? Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah chief, has said: “For us it will be as if they were never issued.” Even if by some miracle he is nabbed, Ayyash will have to be tried all over again since he was tried in absentia. Also, the big question still remains: Who really ordered Hariri’s murder? Many Lebanese have taken a dim view of the verdict as it has failed to provide closure.[COMMENT BY: Omar Shariff, International Editor]
AFP