The tribunal set up to try the killers of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri insisted Tuesday on keeping its first indictment under wraps as fears of violence rose on the streets of Beirut. The prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon warned that speculation on the indictment which he submitted on Monday and is widely believed to implicate Hezbollah, would be "counter-productive".
"This is the first step in our collective quest to end impunity in Lebanon," prosecutor Daniel Bellemare said in a recorded message as soldiers deployed inn Beirut amid soaring tension Dozens of unarmed men gathered in several neighbourhoods in mainly Muslim west Beirut early on Tuesday in a show of force that prompted panicked parents to pull their children from classes and some schools to shut down for the day.