Lebanon's pro-Syrian president objected on Monday to the draft document setting up an international court to try suspects in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri, and declared no agreement can pass without his approval. President Emile Lahoud, whose security chiefs are under arrest in connection with the 2005 assassination, said in a statement he had multiple objections to the draft.
| Under the constitution, Lahoud said, the president in agreement with the prime minister must approve any deal before it goes to Cabinet for approval. "It ends there" if the president disapproves, he said. |
A UN investigation into Hariri's killing has implicated top Syrian and Lebanese security officials, a charge Syria denies. The UN handed Lebanese authorities last month a draft document spelling out details of the structure and legal framework for the international tribunal. Lahoud has refused to step down before the end of his term in 2007, and his opponents lack the votes to oust him.
The issue of an international court comes amid heightened political tensions between pro- and anti-Syrian groups in Lebanon. The anti-Syrian camp says the mounting campaign against western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and recent threats of street protests are a way to undermine the planned international court. Pro-Syrian groups, led by the Hizbullah guerrilla, say they want a stronger role in running the country after the war with Israel in the summer.
| "Since when does the suspect becomes a judge in choosing the court before which he will stand?" |
The minister accused Lahoud of involvement in Hariri's assassination and said in a statement that the president's objections were "political scandal and legal heresy." He claimed that it was an attempt by Syrian authorities, through Lahoud, to undermine or delay the formation of the court.
| Picked right up on that, didn't he? |
A draft of the resolution creating the court has been circulated to the five permanent members of the Security Council. But a diplomat at the UN said council members disagree on how to name the judges. Russia, a close ally of Syria, wants the Security Council to pick the judges so that Moscow - a veto yielding council member - has more control, the diplomat said. Europeans and Americans want the UN Secretary-General to oversee the judges' nomination, said the UN diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because negotiations are private.