Lebanon minister shrugs off Syria arrest warrant against MP

BEIRUT (AFP) - Lebanese Telecommunication Minister Marwan Hamadeh, a close aide to Walid Jumblatt, said that
Syria's arrest warrants against the prominent MP were "worthless".

"The Syrian warrants are worthless ... since they are addressed against a person who has parliamentary immunity," said Hamadeh.

"Interpol will deal with these warrants just as it deals with warrants issued by countries of dictatorships such as
North Korea and Baathist Syria," he told reporters.

"The real warrants will soon be issued by the judge of the international enquiry commission," which is investigating the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, he said.

Two UN reports have implicated Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies in Hariri's murder which triggered domestic and international protests that forced Syria to end its 29-year military presence and political domination in Lebanon in April 2005.

A Syrian military magistrate on Monday issued an arrest warrant to detain Jumblatt that was handed on to Interpol, lawyer Hussam Eddine al-Habash told AFP in Damascus.

"This measure was taken because of the lack of cooperation of the concerned Lebanese authorities and after the failure to respond to the warrant issued on May 3 by Syrian military justice, despite a seven-day delay (for Jumblatt) to appear in court freely."

On May 3, Jumblatt was summoned by a Syrian military court to appear within seven days on charges of "inciting against Syria".

Jumblatt, Lebanon's Druze leader, is a key member of Beirut's anti-Syrian parliament majority which has accused Damascus of involvement in a series of bombings, including Hariri's murder and a failed attempt on Hamadeh's life.

In December 2005, Jumblatt called for regime change in Syria.