UNITED NATIONS, 18 August 2007 — An international court to try suspects in the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri will be based in the Netherlands, UN officials said yesterday.
Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende had written to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon agreeing to host the special court at the UN’s request, UN spokeswoman Michele Montas said.
“The secretary-general was pleased to receive on Aug. 15 a letter from Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende informing him that the government of the Netherlands is favorably disposed to hosting the special tribunal for Lebanon,” she said. The tribunal aims to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of Hariri, killed with 22 others in a massive explosion.
On Thursday Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen hinted his country was ready to host the special tribunal. “We will react positively” to the request of UN chief Ban to have the tribunal in The Hague, Verhagen told Dutch public Radio 1. “Obviously we have to sort out some practical matters first like financing and where possible convicts will go to serve their sentences,” he added. “I think it will work out.”
The Hague is already dubbed the legal capital of the world, being the seat for several international tribunals such as the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court.
