Hizbullah boycotts Lebanese talks over UN tribunal

Hizbullah and its allies boycotted the latest round of Lebanon's national dialogue on Thursday because of tensions surrounding a UN tribunal's investigation of the 2005 assassination of a former prime minister. Many fear there could be violence in coming months if the UN court probing the truck bombing that killed Rafik Hariri and 22 others indicts members of the militant Hizbullah, a Shi'ite force that accuses the tribunal of bias. Hizbullah's ally Michel Aoun said the boycott was to protest the government's refusal to tackle the issue of witnesses accused of giving false information to mislead the investigation. Seven out of 19 leaders were absent from Thursday's talks, which are part of a series of regular meetings held by Lebanon's political factions. Hizbullah shares power in a fragile unity government with a Western-backed coalition led by Prime Minister Saad Hariri — the son of the slain former leader. The bombing that killed Rafik Hariri along Beirut's Mediterranean waterfront on Feb. 14, 2005 was one of the most dramatic political assassinations the Mideast has seen. A billionaire businessman, Hariri was Lebanon's most prominent politician after the 15-year civil war ended in 1990. The tribunal has not yet indicted anyone in the assassination, but Hizbullah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah says he expects members of his movement to be named. That has raised fears of violence between the heavily armed Shi'ite guerrilla force and Hariri's mainly Sunni allies. Nasrallah also has called on the Lebanese to boycott the tribunal, claiming that all information gathered by it was being sent to archenemy Israel. (20,54)