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Lebanese Officials Demand Arrest Warrants Against Convicted Hariri Killers

Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri and Bahiya al-Hariri, the sister of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, pray at his grave, during the 16th anniversary of his assassination, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon February 14, 2021. (Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri and Bahiya al-Hariri, the sister of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, pray at his grave, during the 16th anniversary of his assassination, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon February 14, 2021. (Reuters)
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Lebanese Officials Demand Arrest Warrants Against Convicted Hariri Killers

Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri and Bahiya al-Hariri, the sister of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, pray at his grave, during the 16th anniversary of his assassination, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon February 14, 2021. (Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri and Bahiya al-Hariri, the sister of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, pray at his grave, during the 16th anniversary of his assassination, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon February 14, 2021. (Reuters)

Lebanese former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora urged on Friday the judiciary to issue arrest warrants against the convicted killers of ex-Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

He also called on Lebanese authorities to arrest them and bring them to justice.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) appeals judges had on Thursday sentenced two Hezbollah members in absentia to life imprisonment for their role in the 2005 assassination of Hariri

Hariri served as prime minister of Lebanon five times following the 1975-90 civil war. He and 21 others died in a massive truck bomb on Feb. 14, 2005.

"The attack terrorized not only the direct victims but more generally the people of Lebanon," STL presiding judge Ivana Hrdlickova said as she handed down the maximum sentence on Hassan Habib Merhi and Hussein Hassan Oneissi.

Hezbollah has long dismissed the STL and said it was not concerned with its rulings. It has vowed that the suspects will never be found.

Lebanese authorities have failed in arresting any of the fugitives.

Member of the Democratic Gathering MP Marwan Hamadeh, a survivor of an assassination attempt in 2004, announced Friday that he would debrief the caretaker government over the issue on Monday.

In a statement, he said he would submit the request after STL Prosecutor Norman Farrell called on parties protecting the three accused to turn them over to the tribunal.

The third suspect is Salim Ayyash, another Hezbollah member, who was convicted of Hariri’s murder in 2020 and sentenced to life.

Hamadeh said he will call on the justice minister to take the necessary legal and judicial measures in line with the STL ruling.

Siniora said the ruling “proved right the decision to turn to international justice to search for the truth” in Hariri’s assassination.

Despite the time it took, the court managed to reveal the truth behind the murder, as the Lebanese judiciary stood helpless in revealing the simplest and most obvious of crimes and truths.

He urged the judiciary to respect international agreements and pledges towards the international community and arrest the convicts.

He warned that Hezbollah’s failure to respect international justice and the STL will undermine the credibility of the Lebanese justice system.

Hariri’s son, former PM Saad al-Hariri, tweeted that the sentence is clear in condemning Hezbollah as the mastermind behind the assassination.

The party cannot shy away from its responsibility in turning over the convicts, he added, saying: “History will not be merciful”.

MP and former Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi said Rafik al-Hariri's murder and the 2020 Beirut port explosion bear the same hallmarks.

“The Lebanese people’s ability to persevere is more powerful than the hegemony of Hezbollah,” he said in a series of tweets.

He said the Iran-backed party is the real ruler in Lebanon and it has brought “puppets” to power so that they can provide it with political cover.

“Everyone knows who stands behind the majority of the crimes in Lebanon,” he remarked.

“We are determined in achieving justice and we are still shouldering our responsibilities,” he declared.

“The Lebanese political class is a failure and the Lebanese people will not remain silent,” he added.

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Arab World

Syria: SDF’s Mazloum Abdi Says Implementation of Integration Deal May Take Time

People sit outdoors surrounded by nature, with the Tigris river flowing in the background, following a long atmospheric depression, near the Syrian-Turkish border in Derik, Syria, February 16, 2026 REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
People sit outdoors surrounded by nature, with the Tigris river flowing in the background, following a long atmospheric depression, near the Syrian-Turkish border in Derik, Syria, February 16, 2026 REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
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Syria: SDF’s Mazloum Abdi Says Implementation of Integration Deal May Take Time

People sit outdoors surrounded by nature, with the Tigris river flowing in the background, following a long atmospheric depression, near the Syrian-Turkish border in Derik, Syria, February 16, 2026 REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
People sit outdoors surrounded by nature, with the Tigris river flowing in the background, following a long atmospheric depression, near the Syrian-Turkish border in Derik, Syria, February 16, 2026 REUTERS/Orhan Qereman

Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, said the process of merging the SDF with Syrian government forces “may take some time,” despite expressing confidence in the eventual success of the agreement.

His remarks came after earlier comments in which he acknowledged differences with Damascus over the concept of “decentralization.”

Speaking at a tribal conference in the northeastern city of Hasakah on Tuesday, Abdi said the issue of integration would not be resolved quickly, but stressed that the agreement remains on track.

He said the deal reached last month stipulates that three Syrian army brigades will be created out of the SDF.

Abdi added that all SDF military units have withdrawn to their barracks in an effort to preserve stability and continue implementing the announced integration agreement with the Syrian state.

He also emphasized the need for armed forces to withdraw from the vicinity of the city of Ayn al-Arab (Kobani), to be replaced by security forces tasked with maintaining order.

Arab World

Israeli Far-Right Minister to Push for ‘Migration’ of West Bank, Gaza Palestinians 

A Palestinian man checks leather belts as people prepare for Ramadan, in the old city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 17,2026. (Reuters)
A Palestinian man checks leather belts as people prepare for Ramadan, in the old city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 17,2026. (Reuters)
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Israeli Far-Right Minister to Push for ‘Migration’ of West Bank, Gaza Palestinians 

A Palestinian man checks leather belts as people prepare for Ramadan, in the old city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 17,2026. (Reuters)
A Palestinian man checks leather belts as people prepare for Ramadan, in the old city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 17,2026. (Reuters)

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he would pursue a policy of "encouraging the migration" of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported Wednesday.

"We will eliminate the idea of an Arab terror state," said Smotrich, speaking at an event organized by his Religious Zionism Party late on Tuesday.

"We will finally, formally, and in practical terms nullify the cursed Oslo Accords and embark on a path toward sovereignty, while encouraging emigration from both Gaza and Judea and Samaria.

"There is no other long-term solution," added Smotrich, who himself lives in a settlement in the West Bank.

Since last week, Israel has approved a series of measures backed by far-right ministers to tighten control over the West Bank, including in areas administered by the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo Accords, in place since the 1990s.

The measures include a process to register land in the West Bank as "state property" and facilitate direct purchases of land by Jewish Israelis.

The measures have triggered widespread international outrage.

On Tuesday, the UN missions of 85 countries condemned the measures, which critics say amount to de facto annexation of the Palestinian territory.

"We strongly condemn unilateral Israeli decisions and measures aimed at expanding Israel's unlawful presence in the West Bank," they said in a statement.

"Such decisions are contrary to Israel's obligations under international law and must be immediately reversed.

"We underline in this regard our strong opposition to any form of annexation."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called on Israel to reverse its land registration policy, calling it "destabilizing" and "unlawful".

The West Bank would form the largest part of any future Palestinian state. Many on Israel's religious right view it as Israeli land.

Israeli NGOs have also raised the alarm over a settlement plan signed by the government which they say would mark the first expansion of Jerusalem's borders into the occupied West Bank since 1967.

The planned development, announced by Israel's Ministry of Construction and Housing, is formally a westward expansion of the Geva Binyamin, or Adam, settlement situated northeast of Jerusalem in the West Bank.

The current Israeli government has fast-tracked settlement expansion, approving a record 52 settlements in 2025.

Excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements and outposts, which are illegal under international law.

Arab World

Maliki Can Withdraw as Candidacy as Iraq PM the Easy or Hard Way

Members of the Coordination Framework hold a meeting. (Iraqi News Agency)
Members of the Coordination Framework hold a meeting. (Iraqi News Agency)
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Maliki Can Withdraw as Candidacy as Iraq PM the Easy or Hard Way

Members of the Coordination Framework hold a meeting. (Iraqi News Agency)
Members of the Coordination Framework hold a meeting. (Iraqi News Agency)

Iraqi Former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declined at the last minute to attend a meeting of the pro-Iran Coordination Framework on Monday night that was aimed at settling the crisis over his nomination as prime minister.

Instead of declaring that he was pulling out as candidate, as had been expected, Maliki informed his close circle that he is “following through with his nomination to the end,” trusted sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Iraq has come under intense pressure from the US to withdraw the nomination. In January, President Donald Trump warned Baghdad against picking Maliki as its PM, saying the United States would no longer help the country.

“Last time Maliki was in power, the Country descended into poverty and total chaos. That should not be allowed to happen again. Because of his insane policies and ideologies, if elected, the United States of America will no longer help Iraq,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Maliki also dismissed as “extortion and intimidation” talks of renewed US sanctions on Iraq, added the sources.

However, circles within the Coordination Framework have started to “despair” with the impasse over naming a new prime minister and are weighing the possibility of taking “difficult” choices, they revealed. Maliki has become a prisoner of his own nomination.

The Sunni Progress Party (Takadum) had voiced its reservations over Maliki’s nomination before Trump made his position clear and which has since weighed heavily on Iraq.

‘Indefinitely’

Maliki’s decision to skip the Framework’s meeting on Monday forced the coalition to postpone it “indefinitely”, exposing more differences inside the alliance that have been festering for months. The dispute over the post of prime minister is threatening to evolve into one that threatens the unity of the coalition itself.

Several sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Maliki had sent the Framework a written message on Monday night informing them that he will not attend the meeting because “he was aware that discussions will seek to pressure him to withdraw his candidacy.”

Maliki was the one to call for the meeting to convene in the first place, they revealed.

Reports have been rife in Iraq that Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish political leaderships have all received warnings that the US would take measure against Iraq if Maliki continued to insist on his nomination.

Former Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told Dijlah TV that “Shiite parties” had received two new American messages reiterating the rejection of Maliki’s nomination.

Necessary choice

Maliki and the Framework are now at an impasse, with the latter hoping the former PM would take it upon himself to withdraw his candidacy in what a leading Shiite figure said would help protect the unity of the coalition.

Leading members of the coalition were hoping to give Maliki enough time to decide himself to withdraw, but as time stretches on, the coalition may take matters into its own hands and take “necessary” choices, said the figure.

Other sources revealed, however, that Maliki refuses to voluntarily withdraw from the race believing that this is a responsibility that should be shouldered by the Framework. This has effectively left the alliance with complex and limited choices to end the crisis.

Sources close to Maliki said he has made light of US threats to impose sanctions, saying that if they were to happen, Iraq will emerge on the other side stronger, citing other countries that came out stronger after enduring years of pressure.

Moreover, he is banking on an American change in position, saying mediators have volunteered to “polish his image before Trump and his team.” Members of Maliki’s State of Law coalition declined to comment on this information.

Sources inside the Framework said the coalition may “ultimately withdraw Maliki’s nomination if he becomes too much of a burden on an already weary alliance.”

Doing so may cost them a strong ally in Maliki and force the Framework to yield to Washington’s will, said the Shiite figure. “Maliki may come off as stubborn and strong, but he is wasting his realistic options at this critical political juncture,” it added.

The Framework is divided between a team that is banking on waiting to see how the US-Iran tensions will play out to resolve the crisis and on Maliki voluntarily withdrawing his nomination. The other team is calling for the coalition to resolve the crisis through an internal vote.

Leading Shiite figures told Asharq Al-Awsat that opponents of Maliki’s nomination in the coalition have no choice but to apply internal pressure inside the Framework, which is on the verge of collapse.