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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Mandate extension for Lebanon's Hariri UN panel |
| 2008-12-20 |
| The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday unanimously agreed to extend for two months the mandate of the U.N. panel probing the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri. The 15-member council decided to extend the mandate, which expires late this month, until next February 28 on a request by the head of the Beirut-based commission, Canadian prosecutor Daniel Bellemare. Last month, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said in a report that the international tribunal that will try the suspected assassins of Lebanese former prime minister in The Hague could begin work on March 1. In his briefing to the council Wednesday, Bellemare said he sought the two-month extension of his mandate "to allow the Commission to continue to function until the day the Tribunal starts to operate." |
| Posted by:Fred |