Hassan Nasrallah said the indictments are targeting Hezbollah. In an hour-long TV address, he gave a highly detailed account of the negotiations that had taken place within the Lebanese government concerning the tribunal. In general terms, Hezbollah had asked the government to disassociate itself from the tribunal and to state it would not arrest those it indicted. When agreement proved impossible, Hassan Nasrallah said Hezbollah had decided to bring down the government using democratic means and had not taken to the streets. "We should be thanked," he said, "that we resigned in a constitutional way."

The President of southern Sudan, Salva Kiir, has urged his people to forgive the mainly Muslim north of Sudan for the killings that took place during the two-decade civil war. It was his first public announcement since voting ended in a week-long referendum on whether southern Sudan should become a separate state. James Copnall reports.

Salva Kiir asked for eternal peace for those who died in the war and forgiveness for those who caused their deaths. He was speaking from the pulpit in a Roman Catholic church in the southern capital Juba. The vast majority of the millions of people who died in two north-south civil wars were southerners. Mr Kiir's conciliatory remarks are significant as he's all but certain to become the leader of a new country. Many polling stations and Southern Sudanese in Europe have released results showing more than 95% chose independence.