"Let me state clearly that the indictment has not
been drafted yet," Daniel Bellemare said in a rare media interview
published by the website NOW Lebanon. "I will only file the indictment
when I am satisfied there is enough evidence."
Media reports had said that Bellemare could issue
indictments this month against members of the Hezbollah in connection with the
2005 bombing which killed Hariri and 22 other people.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who has denied
any Hezbollah involvement in the killing and called the UN tribunal an
"Israeli project," stepped up his criticism in recent weeks.
That raised tensions in the unity government led by
Hariri's son, Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who supports the UN court.
Bellemare rejected accusations that the five-year
investigation was politicized.
"We operate in a political context. But the decision
that will be made is not a political decision," he said.
Asked if he would file any indictment by the end of the
year, Bellemare said he was "very optimistic" and was moving as fast
as possible.
"Let's say as soon as possible, but not sooner than
possible," he said.
He said video footage provided by Hezbollah, which
Nasrallah said showed that Israeli drones had surveyed the route taken by Hariri's
motorcade before the bombing, was being assessed and was "not being taken
lightly."
"If somebody comes to me with credible evidence that
shows me that I may not be on the right path, whatever path I am on, then of
course I will look at that material. That is exactly what we are doing,"
he said, adding he did not know whether Hezbollah's evidence would further
delay any indictment.
Bellemare refused to say whether his team had questioned
any Israelis. "What I am saying is that we are reviewing all the possible
existing evidence."
Hezbollah has often questioned the tribunal's neutrality,
saying its work could have been tainted by false testimony and reliance on
telephone records that Israeli spies arrested in Lebanon could have
manipulated.
The tribunal has indicted no one since it was set up by
the UN Security Council in May 2007. Last year it ordered the release of four
pro-Syrian Lebanese generals jailed for four years without charge. Lebanese
authorities had detained them at the request of a former UN investigator in
2005.
