Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri expressed on Friday his readiness to partake in a new coalition government with Hezbollah, noting that he is very "optimistic regarding the formation of such government."
Hariri's comments were made during an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's deliberations in The Hague.
Hariri added that he is trying to rule the country with the rest of Lebanon's components due to the difficult circumstances in which Lebanon is passing through, mainly after the International community failed in dealing with the Syrian crisis.
Asked about the
Special Tribunal for Lebanon, former PM Hariri said that "justice started taking its path", noting that the criminals will be brought to justice.
Asked why he was willing to work with a group accused of playing a role in his father's killing, he said he was committed to the principle of "innocent until proven guilty".
"We know that they are allegedly persons who committed these crimes... But at the end of the day, this is a political party that has a big coalition, with the Free Patriotic Movement of MP Michel Aoun and other political parties," he said.
Lebanon, still struggling to recover from its own 1975-1990 civil war, has been without a fully functioning government since Prime Minister Najib Mikati resigned last March. A caretaker cabinet with minimal powers is running the country until the squabbling parties can reach a deal to form a government.
Fears over Syria-inspired violence have only added to the pressure on politicians to find a compromise.
Hezbollah backs Assad, himself from the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam.
In the past two years, two prominent figures linked to Hariri's Future Party have been killed in car bombs many Hariri supporters blamed on Hezbollah, which denies the accusation.
Hezbollah's strongholds in Beirut have also been attacked with a series of car bombs and rocket strikes that have killed dozens of civilians. Many of those attacks were claimed by al Qaeda-linked Syrian rebel groups.
Negotiations to form a new government were revived in December. A prominent Lebanese political source told Reuters that "great strides have been made in the negotiations and a new government may see the light this month."
Hariri's government was toppled by Hezbollah's political bloc in 2011 and he soon left the country. He has been living between France and Saudi Arabia, fearing for his security.
He was reluctant to give any date for his return.
LBCI/REUTERS
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