WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th August, 2020) The United States welcomes the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's verdict in the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and views it as additional evidence that Hezbollah, whose operative was found guilty in the murder, is a terrorist organization in the service of Iran, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Special Tribunal cleared three main suspects - Hussein Hassan Oneissi, Hassan Habib Merhi, and Assad Hassan Sabra - and declared another suspect, Salim Jamil Ayyash, guilty on all counts.
"The United States welcomes the guilty verdict handed down by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) against Hezbollah operative Salim Ayyash for his role in the February 14, 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri," Pompeo said.
The secretary of state pointed out that Ayyash's conviction helps confirm that Hezbollah and its members are not defenders of Lebanon as they claim to be, but constitute "a terrorist organization dedicated to advancing Iran's malign sectarian agenda."
Pompeo accused Hezbollah of threatening the Lebanese people and jeopardizing the country's financial well-being and potential recovery.
"As I have said many times before, Hezbollah's terrorist and illicit activities in Lebanon and throughout the world demonstrate that it is more concerned with its own interests and those of its patron, Iran, than what is best for Lebanon and the Lebanese people," he said.
Hariri died in a truck explosion in Beirut on February 14, 2005. In 2007, the UN Security Council established the Special Tribunal and in 2010 it named the four main suspects were named.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah refused to cooperate and hand over the suspects, claiming that the Special Tribunal's goal was to besmirch his movement and provoke a religious conflict in Lebanon.
