BEIRUT, 11 November 2006 — Lebanon received from the United Nations yesterday a draft document outlining the framework of a tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Lebanese officials said.
The move indicated that major powers on the Security Council had bridged differences that had delayed an agreement on the workings and structure of the court, the officials said.
They did not reveal details of the draft but said some Russian objections to an earlier draft had been taken on board.
One official source said the tribunal, to be made up of Lebanese and foreign judges, would have no power to try or question heads of states as the killing would not be defined as a “crime against humanity” or a “terrorist attack.”
Hariri was assassinated on Feb. 14, 2005, in a suicide truck bombing that killed 22 other people. The killing, which sparked large anti-Syrian protests that forced Syria to end three decades of military presence in Lebanon, is under investigation by a UN commission led by Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz.
The UN probe has implicated senior Lebanese and Syrian security officials. Syria has denied any role.
The personal representative of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Geir Pederson, handed copies of the draft to Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and other officials in Beirut. He also gave a copy to Hariri’s son Saad, parliamentary majority leader. The next step is for the Lebanese government to approve the draft.
