Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said investigators were
passing information to Israel, in the latest escalation in a war of words over
the inquiry which threatens to plunge the country into more turmoil.
Hezbollah stepped up its campaign against the tribunal after
Lebanese officials and diplomats said the court's prosecutor may indict members
of the group, possibly early next year.
"Any call to boycott the tribunal to prevent it from
fulfilling its mandate is a deliberate attempt to obstruct justice," a
statement from the office of the prosecutor said.
It said it expected cooperation to continue in accordance
with the tribunal's statute and Lebanese laws.
Nasrallah spoke out after two international investigators on
Wednesday were forced by a crowd of women to leave a doctor's clinic in
southern Beirut, a bastion of Hezbollah, where they had made an appointment to
review files.
Tribunal President Judge Antonio Cassese sent letters to UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Rafik's son,
conveying the court's "great concern" about Wednesday's incident.
"It is our firm intention not to bow to any act of
interference and intimidation in carrying out our mandate in an independent and
fair manner," Cassese was quoted as saying in a statement released by the
Hague-based tribunal.
Hezbollah, part of a fragile coalition government, has been
pressuring Premier Hariri into disavowing the court, which it considers a tool
of US and Israeli policy.
The Lebanese government has yet to comment on the issue.
"The situation is definitely at a standoff," said
Oussama Safa, director of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies. "The
escalation from Hezbollah has taken new heights, but I think none of this
escalation will spiral out of control, nor will the tribunal back down,"
he told Reuters.
Nasrallah said it was scandalous that investigators had
sought the medical files of women at the clinic, and warned that any further
cooperation with the tribunal would be considered "an aggression against
the resistance (Hezbollah)".
The office of the prosecutor said the visit had been
approved by Lebanese authorities and the process leading to the visit "was
handled professionally and in accordance with legal safeguards". It also
said the investigators were not seeking medical information from the doctor.
