The Lebanese Cabinet formally handed over to Parliament on Tuesday a controversial text calling for the creation of an international tribunal on the 2005 assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri. In a session held at the barricaded Grand Serail, the Cabinet voted to seek Parliament ratification of the text, which would then allow the Cabinet to sign a tribunal agreement with the United Nations. "The Cabinet unanimously decided to send the UN draft," Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh told Agence France Presse. "This is an important step in the ratification procedure," he said.Leaders of Lebanon's political opposition have said any action undertaken by the current Cabinet, from which six ministers resigned in November, is by definition unconstitutional. The 24-member Cabinet was deserted by pro-opposition ministers last month, sparking a political crisis that has paralyzed the government and sparked mass demonstrations in the capital.
Speaker Nabih Berri, a key opposition partner, has refused to convene Parliament to vote on the international tribunal until the political crisis is resolved. In remarks at the end of the session, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi stressed that Parliament would convene through "constitutional means," without elaborating on the issue.