Druze leader seeks US backing for Hariri slaying tribunal

Jumblatt said he discussed the proposed tribunal with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during an unannounced meeting here.

The Druze leader notably complained of opposition to the court from Lebanon's pro-Syrian president Emil Lahoud.

"If someone opposes this international court, that means that he is covering up the crime," Jumblatt, a leading anti-Syrian figure in Lebanon's parliament, told reporters after meeting Rice at the US State Department.

"If Lahoud and Syria's allies in Lebanon don't want the international court, this issue will become dangerous," he added.

Earlier Monday in Beirut, Lahoud complained that he had been excluded from the process of organizing the court.

A draft text on the project was sent to Lebanese authorities by the UN on October 21. The tribunal has yet to be approved by the UN Security Council or by Lebanon's cabinet and parliament.

The idea for the international tribunal, which would meet outside Lebanon for security reasons, was floated in March by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Hariri was assassinated on February 14, 2005 in a massive bomb blast on the Beirut seafront that killed 22 others. The popular five-time prime minister had opposed the three-year extension of Lahoud's mandate, pushed through by Syria in 2004.

Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz, who heads a UN inquiry into the murder, has pointed to possible links between Hariri's death and 14 other attacks against anti-Syrian personalities in Lebanon since October 1, 2004.

Syria has steadfastly denied any responsibility for the killings, but has come under heavy international pressure to cooperate with the investigations.

An international outcry over the murder of Hariri forced Syria, which had dominated Lebanese politics for three decades, to withdraw its troops from Lebanon in April 2005.

Since then, relations between the two neighboring countries have soured considerably, and leaders of the anti-Syrian majority that emerged in parliamentary elections two months later have repeatedly claimed they fear for their lives.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Rice reaffirmed Washington's strong support for the Brammertz investigation.

Jumblatt and Rice also discussed the aftermath of the recent month-long war between Israel and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, including US reconstruction aid, he said.

Jumblatt also met with US Vice President Dick Cheney.

Source

About headlines and content that has changed after it was added to this site - see disclaimer here

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.