The naming of members of Hezbollah, the Shiite Muslim movement that is the most powerful actor here, was expected for months. But the indictments marked the beginning of a judicial process that could bring unprecedented pressure on the group and its ally Syria, which faces growing isolation over its crackdown on a nearly four-month uprising.
Although the statements of Lebanese leaders were restrained, details of the indictment could prove inflammatory in a country still deeply divided between Hezbollah and its allies, on the one hand, and a disparate group of its critics and opponents. Only the names were leaked; the details of the indictment, so far, remain secret.
“It’s the beginning of something big, not small,” said Paul Salem, the director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. But, he added: “Names without a story doesn’t have much impact. If the public comes to see there’s massive evidence of a terrible story, that will have a big public impact by itself, but that hasn’t happened yet.”
According to legal experts, Lebanon has 30 days to serve the arrest warrants. If the suspects are not arrested in that time, the tribunal will make the indictments public and summon the suspects to court.
The former prime minister, Rafik Hariri, was killed along with six bodyguards and five passers-by when an explosion struck his motorcade on a bend of Beirut’s Mediterranean coast in February 2005.
The indictments were handed to the state prosecutor, whose duties include serving the arrest warrants. Neither members of the tribunal nor the prosecutor, Said Mirza, offered details of the indictment, but judiciary officials confirmed the names of the four men, two of whom are believed to be senior members of Hezbollah.
One of them is Moustapha Badreddine, a brother-in-law of Imad Moughnieh, a shadowy Hezbollah commander killed in 2007 and blamed for some of the group’s most spectacular acts of violence. Among those attacks was the 1983 bombing of the United States Marine barracks in Beirut, which killed 241 service members.
A Lebanese television channel said its sources identified the other Hezbollah member as Salim Ayyash. The affiliations of the remaining two people named in the indictment — Hassan Anaissy and Assad Sabra — were unknown. Hezbollah, which has long acknowledged that its members would be indicted, has denounced the court, calling it politicized and a tool of the United States and Israel. The group contends the court has lost credibility, pointing out that its findings were leaked to the media several months ago, along with the statements of witnesses that later turned out to be fraudulent.
A Lebanese television channel broadcast a series of clips this year showing the tribunal’s interviews with Lebanese officials that suggested efforts to manipulate the investigation.
Hezbollah wants Lebanon to end its cooperation with the court, including withdrawing Lebanese judges and ending its financial contributions.
“All the things that were leaked to the press so far were true, and this indicates that the court was not all that professional,” said Talal Atrissi, a political science professor at Lebanese University. “It makes you question its legitimacy.”
That opinion, though, is not universal in Lebanon, where sentiments over the court mirror a divide in the country that predates Mr. Hariri’s assassination and cuts across Lebanon’s questions of identity, loyalty to foreign powers, posture toward Israel and the relative strength of Sunni and Shiite Muslims in a country of 18 religious sects.
Anthony Shadid and Hwaida Saad contributed reporting.
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