Ban urges creation of Hariri tribunal ahead of UN debate (Roundup)

May 15, 2007, 21:59 GMT

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.