6 years later and the moment many were waiting for is here. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon has issued its indictment against four Lebanese men, suspected of being involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, back in February 14th, 2005.
And as has been expected for more than a year, the suspects are Hezbollah-related individuals. The names don’t matter. After all, most of us don’t even know who these men are or what they do with Hezbollah exactly. Based on the biographies TV Channels are running, some of them seem to be very important people in the ranks of the party.
Their names are as follows: Mustafa Badreddine, Salim al-Ayyash, Hasan Aineysseh and Asad Sabra.
Mustafa Badreddine is the brother-in-law of Hezbollah’s assassinated commander Imad Mughniyeh and he eventually replaced Mughniyeh as Hezbollah’s chief operations officer. He is also said to be the mastermind and supervisor behind the Hariri assassination.
Everyone needs to know that an indictment is very different from a verdict and I hope no one in the Lebanese political scene acts rashly in the following few days, be it positively or negatively. These said suspects are awaiting trial where they will be allowed to present their case and seek to be acquitted and, at the end of the day, may well turn out innocent.
By the looks of it, the Lebanese street is still quite relaxed. The two opposite neighborhoods that have become characteristic of both Lebanese sects/Political sides involved in this conflict: Beirut’s Southern Suburb (Dahye) and Tariq Jdide are still going at their day normally, as if nothing happened. The interpretation of the indictment is of different nature in each: the first thinking it’s political and the second believing it’s a just verdict.
At the end of the day, we are all part of the same country and our main goal is to get to a conclusion for this dark period of Lebanese history. Hopefully the path towards this goal won’t be filled with unnecessary bumps by rash politcians that make life harder for every Lebanese.
A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares 
Good analysis Elie. We’re all waiting to read the details of the indictment and the evidence used against those. Of course there are (and will still be) hidden details and figures (and maybe countries) involved, but at least this is the first step towards justice. Let’s see what will happen in Lebanon meanwhile.
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Exactly. Even if they turned out to be innocent, the true killer knows now that killing Lebanese politicians and people is not something that will pass by lightly.
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