Lebanon president protests Hariri murder court

Lahoud said in a statement that according to the constitution, the duty of negotiating the court's mandate with the United Nations falls to him.

He also took issue with a draft document that left out the word "international" from the title of the yet-to-be-formed court.

"Taking account of Article 52 of the constitution, which says that the head of state negotiates international treaties and ratifies them with the prime minister and support of the cabinet, (the president) expresses his reservations about the plan," it said.

Lahoud "particularly warns about adopting the name 'Lebanon Special Tribunal', which could have an impact on the image of Lebanese around the world and damage the tribunal's 'international character'," it said.

"This could lead one to believe that Lebanon is being judged for crimes such as collective massacre or ethnic cleansing... as in crimes against humanity in countries where special tribunals have been created such as the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone."

Talks on the tribunal are being led by Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and the justice ministry in coordination with UN legal offices, and Lahoud said his grievances had been transmitted to the premier's office and foreign ministry.

A draft text on the project was sent to the 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 also killed 22 others. The popular five-times 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.

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.