12 December 2012 — PressTV

Lebanese lawmaker Saad Hariri (file photo)

The Syrian government has issued an arrest warrant for the Lebanese lawmaker Saad Hariri on charges of sponsoring Syrian militants.

The First Attorney General in the Syrian capital city, Damascus, Mohammed Marwan al-Loji has issued arrest warrants for Hariri as well as another Lebanese lawmaker Uqab Saqr, Syria‘s official news agency SANA reported on Wednesday. 

In a statement Loji announced that the crimes committed by Hariri and Saqr are terrorist crimes which makes the two liable to the international law on terrorism. 

He further stated that, Syria‘s Public Prosecution has been informed of evidence which reveal the involvement of Hariri and Saqr in providing money and arms to Syrian militants. 

The Syrian official also stressed that, a public interest litigation will be filed against any person who is involved in terrorist acts in Syria.

The arrest warrants were issued a few days after reports were published indicating that Saqr had admitted to cooperating with foreign-backed militants in Syria. 

Saqr is accused of deploying militants and weapons to Syria and recordings of his telephone conversations with militants in Syria were released recently. 

Moreover, he had reportedly organized the abduction of 13 Lebanese pilgrims earlier in May and finally paid a certain amount of money to the kidnapping group to transfer the pilgrims to Turkey. 

A number of Lebanese Islamic figures issued a statement on December 1 and highlighted Saqr and Hariri’s role in dispatching arms to militants in Syria. 

The religious figures stressed that the move jeopardizes Lebanon’s internal stability and called on Lebanon’s Judiciary to adopt necessary measures and prosecute Saqr and Hariri. 

Syria has been the scene of unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed in the turmoil. 

The Syrian government says a very large number of the militants operating in Syria are foreign nationals. 

TNP/SZH