New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday said
those responsible for the murder of former Lebanese prime
minister Rafik Hariri should be brought to justice and urged the UN
Security Council to set up a special tribunal for that purpose.
'I hope the Security Council will discuss this matter and take the
necessary action,' Ban told reporters after the council president, US
Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said a draft resolution on the tribunal
would be put forward later this week.
'In my view, in my capacity as secretary general and as a matter
of principle, there should be no impunity for the perpetrators of
political assassinations,' he said.
Ban said the 15-nation council had been called on to create the
tribunal because all diplomatic UN and Lebanese efforts had failed.
Prime Minister Fouad Seniora sent a letter to Ban on Monday urging
the council to get involved after tense political divisions between
pro- and anti-Syrian forces in Beirut had led to a deadlock on the
tribunal's creation.
'We cannot let the Lebanese people down and it's imperative that
we move forward,' Khalilzad said earlier in the day.
Asked whether a tribunal would ignite more conflict from political
parties opposed to the tribunal and the current government of
Seniora, Khalilzad said justice had to be carried out against those
responsible for the Hariri murder in February, 2005.
'It's important that justice is done with regard to attacks that
had taken place and the crimes committed, and it's also very
important for the future long-term stability of Lebanon that such
actions be deterred,' he said.
A draft resolution would be introduced to the 15-nation council
later this week, Khalilzad said.
The tribunal would try suspects involved in Hariri's murder and
the death of other Lebanese politicians and journalists in recent
years. It would be set up under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter - invoked
in resolutions dealing with peace and security - and would be binding
on UN members to implement.
The establishment of the tribunal has been delayed because of
opposition from pro-Syrian Lebanese parties led by the militant
Hezbollah group, who have been insisting that the Seniora government
step down. Syria was accused of complicity in the murder of Hariri by
UN investigators, but Damascus had denied the charges.
'The Lebanese government considers that the time has come for the
Security Council to help make the special tribunal for Lebanon a
reality,' Seniora hasd said in his letter to Ban Monday.
'We therefore ask you, as a matter of urgency, to put before the
Security Council our request that a special tribunal be put into
effect,' the letter said.
Lebanon's parliament has failed to ratify the tribunal because
Shiite House speaker, Nabih Berri, a close ally of Hezbollah, has
refused to convene the chamber. Berri considers the cabinet of
Premier Seniora illegitimate since six pro-Syrian ministers resigned
from the government last November.
The anti-Syrian parliamentary majority, who support the Seniora
government, accuse their opponents in the pro-Syrian camp of trying
to bloc the formation of the tribunal to protect their Syrian allies,
who are widely blamed for the 2005 Hariri assassination.
Observers in Lebanon fear that if the UN were to establish the
court unilaterally under Chapter 7 of its charter, it could trigger
violence and instability in the country.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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