Lebanon's military tribunal has cleared 12 people of plotting to assassinate Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah in 2006, a judicial official said on Tuesday. The decision, issued on Thursday, said only that there was a "lack of sufficient evidence" against the suspects.
Despite acquittal on the conspiracy charge, eight defendants were sentenced to three to five years in prison for "forming a group with the intent to commit crimes against people" as well as the "unauthorized possession of weapons".
According to AFP, a ninth person was cleared of both these charges and the remaining three were freed after having been deemed to have served unspecified sentences on the same charges.
In April 2006, about three months before the war between Israel and Hizbullah, the Lebanese daily As Safir reported that the group plotted to assassinate Nasrallah on his way to a meeting of the Lebanese national dialogue devoted to resolving political tensions in the country. According to the paper, the group had attempted to track the "movements of Sheikh Nasrallah and developed a comprehensive plan to assassinate him" by hitting his convoy with anti-tank rockets.
