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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran | |
| Hariri Assassination Tribunal advances in U.N. | |
| 2007-10-13 | |
The United Nations' secretary-general Ban Ki-moon is spearheading plans for a special tribunal to prosecute the suspected killers of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005.
Ban has sent a letter to the Security Council president informing him of his intention to appoint Judge Mohamed Amin El Mahdi, Judge Erik Mose and Nicolas Michel to the selection panel. Judge El Mahdi formerly served on the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Judge Mose currently serves as a presiding judge with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Michel is the UN legal counsel and under-secretary-general for legal affairs. The UN said that Ban was committed to setting up the tribunal in a timely manner and continued to believe the court “will contribute to ending impunity in Lebanon for the crimes under its jurisdiction.” Hariri was killed with 22 others in a massive car bombing in downtown Beirut in February 2005. It was widely believed that the Syrian government was linked to the killing. Once it is formally established, the tribunal will determine whether other political killings in Lebanon since October 2004 were connected to the assassination of Hariri and could also be dealt with by the tribunal. | |
| Posted by:Fred |