MOSCOW, May 25 (RIA Novosti) - A senior Russian lawmaker said on Monday that the son of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri was unlikely to use his father's 2005 assassination to gain an advantage at the June 7 parliamentary polls.
Rafik Hariri's son, Saad Hariri, is the leader of the pro-Western Sunni party Al Mustaqbal (Future Movement), which holds the majority of seats in parliament. His party's main rival at the June 7 elections is the Iranian-backed Shiite group Hezbollah, whom some Western media reports have suggested may have played a part in his father's death in a bomb attack in February 2005.
"It is clear that it will be to someone's interests to draw overall attention to Hezbollah and try to provoke negative emotions with regard to it," Mikhail Margelov, chairman of the Russian upper house's international affairs committee, said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
A delegation from the Russian parliament's upper house, led by Margelov, is set to visit Beirut between June 5 and 9 to monitor the polls.
The Russian senator said Saad Hariri would not seek to draw attention to possible links between Hezbollah and his father's death, as he was an "experienced politician" who did not play "black and white games."
"Any scenario is possible, but...knowing Saad Hariri personally... I don't believe he will use such primitive and one-move tactics as to bluntly order the publication of various theories," Margelov said.
The investigation into the death of two-time premier Hariri by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is ongoing, but in its initial reports, the UN International Independent Investigation Commission (UNIIIC) indicated that the Syrian government may be linked to the assassination.
Margelov said that time would show who had an interest in drawing attention to the issue, and it would be advisable to wait and see what stories were run by Lebanese and other Arab media outlets.
Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia was ready to cooperate with any government that was formed in Lebanon after June 7, adding that Moscow would maintain contacts "with all political forces representing a significant cross-section of Lebanon's unique society."
Analysts have said a victory for Hezbollah will not result in dramatic changes, as the group already has a dominant political role. However, the United States has said that military aid to Lebanon could be reviewed if the group is elected.
