US Senator Kerry says UN's Hariri tribunal will complete its work

Nov 8, 2010, 14:20 GMT

Beirut - United States Senator John Kerry on a visit to Beirut Monday pledged that the United Nations-backed inquiry into the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri would complete its mission.

Kerry met President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the son of the deceased politician, to discuss rising tensions in the country resulting from the work of the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

'This tribunal was... requested by Lebanon, by Lebanese, by people who want to know the truth and were tired of the notion that assassination should be a political tool,' Kerry said.

'Lebanon doesn't have the power to change the tribunal, because it was created by the United Nations at the request of this country.'

Some political sides, including the militant Shiite movement Hezbollah, have demanded the abolition of the tribunal, or at least a boycott against it.

Kerry, who often acts as an envoy of President Barack Obama on the Middle East, reiterated Washington's 'strong support for an independent and sovereign Lebanon.'

Lebanon was the latest stop in the US senator's regional tour. He arrived in Beirut on board a private plane from the Horn of Africa.

Tensions began rising in Lebanon after reports over the summer that the UN tribunal plans to indict members of Hezbollah.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah last week called for a total boycott of the tribunal, drawing criticism from regional powers, including influential Saudi Arabia.

The current political crisis has prompted fears of a renewed outbreak of sectarian violence pitting Hariri's mainly Sunni supporters against Hezbollah, which controls the largest militia in Lebanon.

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