BEIRUT (Reuters) - The U.N. prosecutor investigating the killing of Lebanon's former premier Rafik al-Hariri said he would not rush to indict suspects, dampening expectations of imminent indictments which had raised tensions in Lebanon.
"Let me state clearly that the indictment has not been drafted yet," Daniel Bellemare said in an rare media interview published by the website NOW Lebanon. "I will only file the indictment when I am satisfied there is enough evidence."
Media reports had said that Bellemare could issue indictments this month against members of the Shi'ite guerrilla group Hezbollah in connection with the 2005 bombing which killed Hariri and 22 other people.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who has denied any Hezbollah involvement in the killing and called the U.N. tribunal an "Israeli project," stepped up his criticism in recent weeks.
That raised tensions in the unity government led by Hariri's son, Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, who supports the U.N. court.
Bellemare rejected accusations that the five-year investigation was politicised.
"We operate in a political context. But the decision that will be made is not a political decision," he said.
HEZBOLLAH EVIDENCE ASSESSED
Asked if he would file any indictment by the end of the year, Bellemare said he was "very optimistic" and was moving as fast as possible.
"Let's say as soon as possible, but not sooner than possible," he said.
He said video footage provided by Hezbollah, which Nasrallah said showed that Israeli drones had surveyed the route taken by Hariri's motorcade before the bombing, was being assessed and was "not being taken lightly."
"If somebody comes to me with credible evidence that shows me that I may not be on the right path, whatever path I am on, then of course I will look at that material. That is exactly what we are doing," he said, adding he did not know whether Hezbollah's evidence would further delay any indictment.
Bellemare declined to say whether his team had questioned any Israelis. "What I am saying is that we are reviewing all the possible existing evidence."
Hezbollah has often questioned the tribunal's neutrality, saying its work could have been tainted by false testimony and reliance on telephone records that Israeli spies arrested in Lebanon could have manipulated.
The tribunal has indicted no one since it was set up by the U.N. Security Council in May 2007. Last year it ordered the release of four pro-Syrian Lebanese generals jailed for four years without charge. Lebanese authorities had detained them at the request of a former U.N. investigator in 2005.
(Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
