Lahoud Says Hariri Tribunal To Cause Unrest
Benny Avni
February 7, 2007
New York Sun
Original source: http://www.nysun.com/pf.php?id=48137

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations is seeking to stay clear of Lebanese politics as it sets up an international court in Beirut to prosecute the suspected killers of a former prime minister, but Lebanon's pro-Syrian president says the tribunal will incite political unrest and lead to violence.
A February 5 letter to Secretary-General Ban from President Lahoud, seen by The New York Sun yesterday, shows clearly that Syria's allies in Lebanon are set to fight the proposed international tribunal, which could further isolate and discredit the Syrian government.
In a significant step toward establishing the international tribunal — designed to try suspects in the assassination of a former prime minister, Rafik Hariri — the United Nations's top legal counsel, Nicolas Michel, yesterday signed an agreement with the government of Prime Minister Siniora.
The United Nations will not allow itself to be used as a political tool in negotiating the establishment of the tribunal, Mr. Michel told reporters.
We hope that the Lebanese government will take the necessary measures to be able to ratify the international tribunal in accordance with their constitutional requirements, Mr. Ban said.
Lebanese legislators have yet to ratify yesterday's agreement, however, and the speaker of the Lebanese parliament, Nabih Berri, who leads the Syrian-backed Shiite party Amal, has refused to convene the body to endorse the international tribunal.
Further complicating the situation is the letter to Mr. Ban, in which the Maronite Christian Mr. Lahoud claims that by proposing to sign the agreement with the United Nations, Mr. Siniora's illegal government is in violation of Lebanese constitution and threatens the peace and security in my country.
According to polls, 70% of Lebanon's population supports the United Nations' proposed international tribunal. But entrenched pro-Syrian politicians in Lebanon have organized large-scale demonstrations against it, sparking fears of a full-scale civil war.
Syria is reportedly afraid that the international tribunal will prosecute a brother of President Assad, Maher, and the president's brother-in-law, Assaf al-Shawkat, both of whom were mentioned in past U.N. reports as possible suspects in the February 2005 assassination of Hariri.
In his six-page letter, written in Arabic, Mr. Lahoud urges Mr. Ban to ignore the prime minister, Mr. Siniora. By requesting that the United Nations sign an agreement to set up the international court, Mr. Lahoud says, Mr. Siniora invited foreign intervention and violation of Lebanon's sovereignty.
It is clear from the letter that the president was unaware of the contents of Mr. Siniora's correspondence with the United Nations. Mr. Lahoud writes that he opposes Mr. Siniora's proposal to invoke the Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, according to which the U.N. Security Council may set up an international tribunal on its own, as it did in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
Over the weekend, Lebanese press outlets reported that Mr. Siniora's letter to the United Nations contained such a proposal. But a senior U.N. official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity yesterday denied that Mr. Siniora's letter referred to a Chapter 7-based Security Council resolution.
The official acknowledged that according to the Lebanese constitution, Mr. Lahoud may oppose yesterday's agreement between the Siniora government and the United Nations, but he added that two-thirds of the country's Cabinet can override that opposition.
Separately, a U.N. spokeswoman, Michele Montas, said yesterday that the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon was not able to determine when roadside bombs that Israel detonated near the Lebanese border Monday were placed. Hezbollah said yesterday that the bombs were there prior to its August 2006 war with Israel.
In a letter to UNIFIL, the Israeli defense minister, Amir Peretz, accused the Lebanese army of failing to disarm Hezbollah as required in a Security Council resolution.