Security Council Nears Agreement on Hariri Tribunal
By Benny Avni
November 21, 2006
The New York Sun 
Original Source: http://www.nysun.com/article/43901
UNITED NATIONS — Signaling renewed pressure on Syrian allies in Lebanon, the Security Council yesterday neared an agreement to set up a tribunal trying suspects in the Hariri assassination, and the U.N. force in Lebanon discovered an illicit Hezbollah weapons cache.
American and French diplomats said yesterday they were optimistic that the 15-member council would agree to send a letter today to Secretary-General Annan, approving Turtle Bay's plan to set up the international court for suspects in the February 2005 assassination of the former prime minister of Lebanon.
But Russian and Qatari officials raised objections, citing unrest in Lebanon as result of pressure by Syria and its allies. Hezbollah leaders called for mass demonstrations against the tribunal, while Christian groups threatened to carry out counterdemonstrations that might lead to armed conflict.
The French ambassador to the United Nations, Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, told reporters that during yesterday's closed-door council session nobody raised objections to a letter that would give a green light for Mr. Annan to set up the tribunal together with Prime Minister Siniora's government in Beirut.
Syria's ally, President Lahoud of Lebanon, meanwhile, wrote Mr. Annan a letter last week, objecting to the tribunal proposal. That led to a political crisis in Lebanon, where Mr. Siniora's constitutional right to agree to the tribunal was questioned.
Several Security Council members said yesterday that this is an internal Lebanese issue. In the aftermath of the Hariri assassination, Mr. de la Sabliere noted, the Lebanese government requested legal help from the United Nations.
The question of who is competent to approve the document and how it's approved and when it's approved is a decision for Lebanon to convey to the Security Council, not for the Security Council or the Secretariat to second-guess, the American ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, added.
Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, however, said council members should be cautious before they sign on to Mr. Annan's tribunal blueprint. Constitutional procedures will have to be observed, he told the Sun. The tribunal also should be a positive factor in the domestic political life in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon announced yesterday a Friday discovery of seven missiles and three rocket launchers near the southern town of Bourhoz, as well as 17 Katyusha rockets near Rachiya el-Foukhar. The numbers were tiny compared to arms used by Hezbollah during this summer's war against Israel, but they marked a new phase for UNIFIL.
It was the first significant discovery of Hezbollah weapons by UNIFIL since the war, the force's spokesman, Milos Strugar, said in a phone interview from Lebanon. It took almost a whole day for the Lebanese army to dismantle it.
It was unclear whether the discovery would lead to further significant findings of weapons in the area between the Litani River and the Israeli border, where no weapons are allowed, according to the Security Council's resolution.
Since the war, most UNIFIL reports have concentrated on Israeli violations of the council resolution, and specifically on overflights across the border. Yesterday a top Israeli air force commander met a French military official in Paris to discuss the overflights, according to Israel's ambassador in Paris, Daniel Shek.