Riyadh, August 19 (INP): Saudi Arabia said the verdict in the Rafik Hariri assassination case marks the start in achieving justice by “pursuing, arresting and punishing those involved,” according to a statement from the Kingdom’s foreign ministry. “The Kingdom’s government considers the judicial ruling in the case of the assassination of Prime Minister Hariri as the emergence of the truth and the beginning of achieving justice by pursuing, arresting and punishing those involved", the statement added. The Saudi Arabian government said it is calling for justice and the punishment of Hezbollah and its terrorist elements while “stressing on the need to protect Lebanon, the region and the world from the terrorist practices of this party, which is considered a tool of the Iranian regime.” A UN-backed tribunal on Tuesday acquitted three Hezbollah members in absentia over the 2005 murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in a huge suicide bombing. “The trial chamber finds Hassan Habib Merhi, Hussein Oneissi and Assad Sabra not guilty of all counts charged in the amended consolidated indictment,” said David Re, presiding judge of the Netherlands-based Special Tribunal for Lebanon. INP/javed