Lebanon's democratic government apparently cannot convene a promised tribunal to deal with the assassination of a leading politician, and the United States may ask the United Nations Security Council to step in, US officials said Friday. The State Department's top Middle East diplomat suggested that the US-backed government in Beirut is partly to blame for a political impasse over the international tribunal. "It appears that because of interference from the outside, indecision inside and opposition inside, that Lebanon's normal constitutional processes cannot address this matter," Assistant Secretary of State David Welch said.
The panel to prosecute suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was meant to clear the air in Lebanon's fractured and suspicious political culture. Instead, it has become a defining symbol for the country's difficulties.
Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's weak government has demanded the tribunal be created, but the opposition parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, has not convened the legislature to approve the court. The deadlock threatens Saniora's government. Although Saniora is admired for standing up to pro-Syrian forces and the political and militia group Hizbullah, Western diplomats have expressed disappointment that he has not resolved the crisis.
The United States and other members of the UN Security Council would prefer that Lebanon run the tribunal under its own laws, but several diplomats have said the council could establish its own independent panel if necessary. "If it's not possible to do this through Lebanon's normal constitutional processes, then the United States and others will find another way to do it," Welch told reporters at a State Department briefing.