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| International-UN-NGOs |
| Head of Hariri assassination probe meets with UN chief |
| 2006-11-08 |
| UN Secretary General Kofi Annan met Tuesday with the head of a UN probe of the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, Annan’s press office said. Serge Brammertz, a Belgian prosecutor who is leading the international investigation into the 2005 attack, made no comment to reporters as he left the meeting with Annan. The United Nations described the meeting as routine, but it came as a proposal for the creation of a special international tribunal to try suspects in the attack, remained mired in controversy. Lebanese media reported last week that the Lebanese government had received the proposal for the international court, which would require approval by the UN Security Council and the Lebanese government and parliament. The US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, said Tuesday that Washington wanted to see the proposal move forward rapidly. “We’re very concerned to move quickly to set up the tribunal,” Bolton told reporters, expressing hope that the Security Council could consider the proposal “within the next few days, or certainly next week, if possible.” The UN wants the tribunal to be set up before the conclusion of Brammertz’s investigative panel, which is due to issue its next report in mid-December, a UN official said. The idea for the international tribunal, which would meet outside Lebanon for security reasons, was floated in March by Annan. Brammertz has pointed to possible links between Hariri’s death and 14 other attacks against anti-Syrian personalities in Lebanon since October 1, 2004. The UN probe has implicated senior officials from Syria, which for decades was the power-broker in its smaller neighbor. Damascus strongly denies any connection with the killing. |
| Posted by:ryuge |