crocsbeach

Indictments widen rifts

After years of waiting, the bombshell dropped on 30 June. Judges from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon handed over the first indictments for the cataclysmic 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik Al-Hariri.

It was a sealed, secret file, but within minutes the four names were leaked to the Lebanese media, and soon confirmed by officials. As expected for a year now, at least three of the men named are Hizbullah members. One, Mustafa Badreddin, is believed to be a military commander and the brother-in-law of Imad Mughniyeh, Hizbullah's strategic mastermind who was killed in Damascus in 2008. Since Hizbullah far outguns the army and police force, few in Lebanon expect the men to be apprehended. Their whereabouts are unknown.

Against expectations, Lebanese streets were calm, even in usual flashpoints in Beirut and the tense northern city of Tripoli. Hizbullah has said for a year that it expected its members to be indicted and has waged a campaign to discredit the court. Its success at stealing the march on the tribunal was evident -- by the time the indictments actually happened, they were already old news.

But tensions simmered beneath the surface, and political rifts are widening, echoing the polarisation that followed the Hariri killing. That assassination by car bomb on Beirut's seafront, along with 22 other deaths,Japanese optical glass-maker Hoya said on Friday it would sell its Pentax toilet hidden camera business to copier and printer maker Ricoh, in a deal the Nikkei business daily said was worth about 10 billion yen. rent Lebanon in half. One camp, named after a demonstration on 14 March that year, blamed Syria and was backed by the West and Saudi Arabia. Syrian- and Iranian-backed armed Shia group Hizbullah led the other.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati, head of a three-week-old Hizbullah-backed government, finds himself in an unenviable position. 14 March, relishing its new opposition role, has challenged him to pledge his full support for the court in parliament or step down.A manufacturer of high-speed hand dryer, is benefitting from demand for environmentally friendly products that also reduce costs. In June, the company moved into a 20,000-square-foot building that is 40% larger than its prior location. If he refuses, as 14 March knows he must, the opposition promised this week to work to topple his government and call on the international community not to cooperate with it. A parliamentary debate started as Al-Ahram Weekly went to press. It was to culminate in a vote of confidence that the government is expected to win because it commands a majority in parliament. 14 March has pledged to vote against the cabinet.You can keep them with you for long periods of refrigerant and they would provide you with the same new look every time.