Nasrallah calls for STL boycott

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BEIRUT, Lebanon, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Lebanese leaders are called on to stop cooperating with the tribunal investigating the slaying of a former Lebanese prime minister, Hezbollah said.

Hezbollah is bracing for possible indictments from the United Nations-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Hezbollah is believed to have played a role in the assassination, though Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said the investigation is part of a broad Israeli plot.

Nasrallah in a statement published by Hezbollah's al-Manar news network said it was time for Lebanon to stop cooperating with the tribunal.

"I call on all Lebanese, citizens and politicians alike, to boycott this tribunal and end all cooperation with its investigators," he said. "Enough violations. Everything they obtain reaches the Israelis. It's enough."

His comments came after employees of the STL were attacked after they tried to interview staff members at a women's clinic in Beirut. Nasrallah complained the investigators were operating beyond the scope of the Hariri probe.

Meanwhile, the United Nations in its latest report on Lebanon expressed concern about the activity of non-state militias, a reference to Hezbollah.

Terje Roed-Larsen, a U.N. special envoy to Middle East Peace, said after his meeting with members of the Security Council that stability in Lebanon was in jeopardy.

"We know that in Lebanon you have militias which are very heavily armed and increasingly so," he said in a statement. "This creates a hyper-dangerous situation."