UN votes for court on Hariri murder

UN votes for court on Hariri murder

The murder of Hariri and 22 others in a Beirut bomb blast in February 2005 convulsed Lebanon and forced Syria, held responsible by pro-government Lebanese politicians, to withdraw troops it had kept since the 1970s in its smaller neighbor.

Syria, which has denied responsibility, said the Security Council move violated Lebanese sovereignty and could plunge the country into further instability.

In pushing through the measure, Western powers are gambling that the boost to Lebanese government authority and to the rule of law will outweigh any violent reaction in Lebanon, whose government is at loggerheads with a Hezbollah-led opposition.

"By adopting this resolution, the council has demonstrated its commitment to the principle that there shall be no impunity for political assassinations in Lebanon or elsewhere," said U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.

Britain's U.N. envoy, Emyr Jones Parry, told reporters the vote would "send the right political signal" to Lebanon, a country with a long history of political assassinations, many of which have gone unpunished.

But the countries that abstained -- Russia, China, Qatar, Indonesia and South Africa -- argued that the council was exceeding its authority and interfering in Lebanese affairs.

"It is not appropriate for the Security Council to impose such a tribunal on Lebanon," South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo told the council.

The move responds to a request from Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, but the country's parliament has not approved it because speaker Nabih Berri, an opposition leader who disputes the cabinet's legitimacy, has refused to convene the chamber.

Ties with Syria

Damascus has indicated it will not cooperate with the tribunal. A Syrian government statement on Wednesday said its position remained unchanged, warning that setting up the court "could cause the situation (in Lebanon) to become worse".

But Lebanese Culture Minister Tareq Mitri, who attended the Security Council vote, said no one should be able to force his people to "choose between their quest for justice and their right to security and stability."

In Beirut, Hariri's son Saad, leader of the parliamentary majority, called the U.N. move "a victory for oppressed Lebanon".

Khalilzad warned Syria on Tuesday it would face "increased pressure" if it did not cooperate.

But critics said that invoking Chapter 7 of the U.N. charter, which makes the measure binding, gives the United Nations the unilateral right to establish the court and considered it an interference in Lebanon's domestic affairs.

Jones Parry rejected that view. "Legally we can, politically we ought" to set up the court, he said. But he described Lebanon as "a unique case," brought about by the inability of the Lebanese parliament to endorse the tribunal.

Western envoys amended the resolution last week to allow until June 10 before it goes into force to offer Lebanese factions a last chance to bury their differences over it.

The resolution puts into effect an agreement the United Nations reached with the Lebanese government last November.

The tribunal will follow Lebanese law but a majority of judges will be non-Lebanese. Key details, including where it would be based, remain to be decided, and diplomats expect a year's delay before it starts working.

Lebanese authorities are currently holding eight people over the Hariri killing. They are four pro-Syrian generals who headed Lebanese security departments at the time and four members of a small Syrian-backed Sunni Muslim group accused of having played a role in monitoring Hariri's movements.

Early reports from a U.N. inquiry into Hariri's death implicated Syrian and Lebanese security officials, but the continuing investigation has not yet recommended who should be indicted in the affair.