Photo Gallery A Turning Point for Hezbollah?
The terror attack in Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005 killed then-Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Four members of the radical Shiite Hezbollah have been indicted in connection with the murder by a UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has called the men "brothers with an honorable past." The accused would not be extradited, he said, "not in 30 days, and not in 30 years," and he warned that he would "cut off the hand" of anyone who tried. He also called the tribunal an "American-Israeli conspiracy" that aimed to reignite civil war in Lebanon.
Daniel Bellemare (pictured here), the chief prosecutor at the Hague-based special tribunal, has denied Nasrallah's charges that the court is a "corrupt and biased" institution and assured that it will seriously investigate the Hezbollah leader's claims that the Israelis were behind the Hariri killing. Bellemare told SPIEGEL he has "great confidence" in Lebanese prosecutors, and that he is even willing to travel to Beirut to meet with Nasrallah.
Buildings destroyed by Israeli bombs in the Hezbollah stronghold of the southern suburbs of Beirut in 2006. Hezbollah has recently been experiencing financial problems, and Iran has said it cannot provide additional funding at this time. This is embarrassing for Hezbollah, whose image in Lebanon depends in large part on its generous social services. It is now falling behind in the rebuilding of homes it had promised its Shiite community following the destructive 2006 bomb attacks provoked by Hezbollah's abduction of Israeli soldiers.
After Nasrallah had managed to destroy former Prime Minister Saad Hariri's pro-Western alliance at the beginning of the year by convincing some of Hariri's supporters to defect to his camp, the new prime minister, Najib Mikati, 55, was finally able to present his new cabinet in mid-June. Mikati, a wealthy Sunni businessman, is considered a moderate and has also included representatives of Christian groups in his team. Nevertheless, Hezbollah dominates the cabinet. For the first time the movement, whose militia is more powerful than the regular Lebanese army, has also established itself as the dominant political force. Although Hariri calls it a "coup," Hezbollah formally adhered to the democratic rules of engagement.
