BEIRUT, Lebanon, October 20 (Lebanonwire) -- Majority parliament leader and head of the Future Movement (FM) Saad Hariri said he would seek to have his dad’s assassins tried in an international court, maintaining that relations with Syria would remain strong.

Expecting the worst, anxious Lebanese are hunkering down amid tight security measures ahead of the issuing of the UN 1595 report by UN investigator Detlev Mehlis this Friday, with the only words of comfort coming from President Emile Lahoud and Army chief Michel Suleiman who said that Lebanon’s security forces are well prepared for any security breaches.

Meanwhile, following a meeting with Egyptian President Husni Moubarak and the Arab League’s Secretary General Amro Moussa in Egypt, on the eve of a trip to Saudi Arabia, Hariri announced that he asked for the UN’s assistance in organizing an international criminal tribunal for anyone implicated in the UN probe.

“We want the truth, we want to know who killed (Rafik) Hariri,” Hariri said during a press conference.

Hariri said he was not pointing the finger at anyone before the Mehlis report is out adding, “Egypt has always stood by Lebanon and we believe in having exceptional relations with Syria.”

The statement comes a week after Damascus and the FM engaged in a war of words through the media, ending with Ath Thwara Syrian daily accusing Saad of killing his dad to gain power, wealth and influence.

Hariri said that Hezbollah is a resistance movement that has the support of Lebanese and will remain armed until the Shebaa Farms are occupied by Israel and as long as the threat of aggression against Lebanon persists. “Hezbollah has concerns that the UN report is politicized, but if Mehlis’s findings are transparent, then we expect Hezbollah to approach it in an objective and clear manner,” Hariri said.

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora told Le Monde French Magazine on Wednesday that Syrian-Lebanese relations are “excellent, because it is to both our advantage to continue with the historical ties that our countries enjoyed over a long time.” “Syria has to realize that Lebanon is an independent Sovereign country and not its enemy.”

Siniora said that Hezbolah’s arms are subject to an internal dialogue. “It is the only logical and sensible thing to do with regard to implementing UN 1559, which we respect but plan to enforce gradually in order to avoid unnecessary complications or crisis,” Siniora told the magazine, adding “Hezbollah are not just a bunch of fighters. They have representatives in the Parliament and Cabinet.”

Siniora had recently completed a trip to Paris where he met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who confirmed that Palestinians in Lebanon are to abide by Lebanese laws and not act as if they are above the law.

In response, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), a Pro-Syrian Palestinian faction based in Damascus, issued a statement today denouncing the Siniora-Abbas talks and the statements made by Special Envoy to the Middle East Peace Process Terje-Roed Larsen who said a mechanism needs to be put in place to remove Palestinian weapons and enforce UN 1559.

“We are deeply concerned at the image portrayed by Siniora and Abbas that Palestinians are arms smugglers, terrorists and outlaws, which on one end are driving a wedge in the Palestinians’ unity and on the other threatening to destabilize the situation in Lebanon,” the PFLP-GC said.

The statement added that the PFLP-GC was disappointed at the fact that talks did not address how best to implement UN 194, which guarantees the right of return of Palestinians and alleviate the unjust living conditions of Palestinians in the refugee camps.

“Palestinian weapons in and out of the Palestinian camps have only one purpose, and that is to protect the Palestinian people from conspiracies to evict them and to help secure Lebanon’s security and stability,” the PFLP-GC statement said.

Lebanon had repeatedly said it would no longer tolerate Palestinian weapons outside the camps and that security is Lebanon’s responsibility and duty towards Lebanese and non-Lebanese on its soil.

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