Lebanon must remain calm during the holy month of Ramadan as tensions mount during a probe into the slaying of a former prime minister, the government said.
Riyadh and Damascus are urging Lebanese politicians to remain calm as Beirut braces for indictments from the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
The STL is probing the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hezbollah and Syria are believed to have played a role in the plot. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah last week unveiled evidence he said links Israel to the plot, however.
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the son of the slain political leader, called on lawmakers to exercise calm as the probe intensifies, Lebanon's
Daily Star newspaper reports.
"We call on all Lebanese during the holy month of Ramadan to preserve this spirit and give ourselves a new opportunity (to) resolve our issues calmly
away from tensions and escalation," he said.
Nasrallah in July said he expected the STL would indict members of Hezbollah. For his part, Daniel Bellemare, the prosecutor at the STL in The
Hague, called on Hezbollah to hand over its evidence regarding the Israeli claims.
Hezbollah on its al-Manar news channel Tuesday said it handed over its evidence to Beirut.