A Shot in the Arm for Hezbollah

Asia Times ^ | May 2, 2009 | Sami Moubayed

[nickcarraway]

In a dramatic development, four generals jailed since 2005 for alleged involvement in the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri were on Wednesday released from the nation's Roumieh Prison.

The release has emboldened Hezbollah, which has consistently supported the generals, and perhaps angered Rafik's son Saad al-Hariri and his supporters, who lobbied strongly for the generals' arrest in 2005. The release, which comes 40 days ahead of parliamentary elections, is a strong campaign boost for Hezbollah. It has consistently claimed innocence in al-Hariri's murder, and that the officials were arrested for political reasons - their links to then-president Emille Lahhoud, Syria and Hezbollah - rather than having anything to do with the assassination plot.

Hezbollah secretary general Hasan Nasrallah has mentioned the officers in seven high-profile speeches since 2005, each time calling for their release. After the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which opened its investigation in al-Hariri's death in March, called for their immediate release and protection, Hezbollah rejoiced while members of the pro-Western March 14 Coalition sulked.

The headline on the front page of As-Saffir, a political daily newspaper close to the Hezbollah-led opposition, was "The four officers are liberated, the political scene changes." The political party Amal, from which Hezbollah was born in 1982, issued a statement saying that "justice had prevailed".

While Arab satellite TV carried breaking news of the court's decision, the March 14 coalition's Future TV preferred to air a program about swine flu. Clearly, Saad al-Hariri, the leader of the Future Movement, was unimpressed.