United Nations – The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution Wednesday to start an international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
In Lebanon, Hariri’s supporters began celebrating in his hometown in the southern city of Sidon hours before the vote. Carrying Lebanese flags and pictures of Hariri, supporters set up what they called “love checkpoints” on Sidon’s main roads and intersections where they handed out sweets and flowers to motorists.
Holding back tears, Hariri’s son Saad said in a televised speech that the vote is a “victory the world has given to oppressed Lebanon and a victory for an oppressed Lebanon in the world.”
“Enough divisions. … Let’s put our energies together for the sake of the nation,” he added.
The vote was 10-0 with five abstentions – Russia, China, South Africa, Indonesia and Qatar. Nine votes were needed.
Current Prime Minister Fouad Siniora asked the council this month for the tribunal. He cited the refusal of opposition-aligned Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to convene a session to ratify the statutes to create the tribunal, which have already been approved by his government and the United Nations.
The resolution gives the Lebanese parliament a last chance to establish the tribunal itself.
If it doesn’t act by June 10, the U.N.-Lebanon agreement will automatically “enter into force,” creating a tribunal outside Lebanon with a majority of international judges and an international prosecutor.
The suicide truck bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others in Beirut in February 2005 sparked huge demonstrations against Syria, which was widely seen as culpable. Syria denied involvement but was pressured by the international community into withdrawing its troops from Lebanon, ending a 29-year presence.
The issue of an international tribunal has fueled a political conflict between Siniora’s Western-backed government and the Syrian-backed, Hezbollah-led opposition.
The conflict has taken on an increasingly sectarian tone and erupted into street battles, killing 11 people in recent months.
