UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has received a memorandum from
Lebanon, which asks for a UN-initiated special tribunal for the
assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, UN
spokesperson Michele Montas confirmed on Wednesday.
Ban has received the memorandum from 70 Lebanese
parliamentarians asking him to act under the UN Charter and set up
a special tribunal to try those allegedly responsible for the 2005
assassination of Hariri, Montas told reporters at the UN
Headquarters in New York.
The Secretary-General is currently studying the memorandum, she
said, adding that he remains concerned about Lebanon's continuing
political impasse, which has delayed a parliamentary vote on the
tribunal proposal.
Montas also noted that Ban hoped relevant Lebanese institutions
would take the necessary steps under the constitution to conclude
the formal agreement to set up the tribunal.
Anti-Syrian politicians in Lebanon have blamed Syria for a
massive truck bombing that killed Hariri and 22 other people in
February 2005 and for a string of other bomb attacks that targeted
anti-Syrian figures. Syria has denied involvement in the
attacks.
(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2007)
