Confidential Hariri indictment released

LEIDSCHENDAM-VOORBURG, Netherlands, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- The prosecutor at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon announced Monday he submitted an indictment and supporting materials to a pretrial judge.

The STL is investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Syrian officials were initially blamed for the assassination, though it is widely expected that Hezbollah will be named once the STL's findings are made public.

The STL in a statement Monday said Herman von Hebel, the tribunal's registrar, can confirm prosecutor Daniel Bellemare submitted the indictment to the pretrial judge.

"They will now be reviewed by the pretrial judge, Daniel Fransen," the STL said in a statement Monday. "The contents of the indictment remain confidential at this stage."

Hezbollah stated that it believes the STL is an "Israeli project" meant to bring about the end to the Shiite resistance movement. Hezbollah last year submitted evidence that it said suggested Israel may have played a role in the assassination.

Hezbollah last week led opposition lawmakers in a mass resignation from the Lebanese government, collapsing the unity coalition of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who was visiting with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington when his government fell.

Talks on a new government were postponed until next week, though Hariri, the slain prime minister's son, is serving in a caretaker capacity.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said the resignation of the 11 opposition ministers wasn't going to usher in an era of war in Lebanon, however.

Nasrallah in a weekend statement on Hezbollah's al-Manar new station said he would issue follow-up comments once Bellemare's office reviews the indictment.