UN prefers Lebanon factions reach accord over Hariri tribunal

By The Associated Press
April 20, 2007
Haaretz
Original Source: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/851007.html
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A UN envoy signaled on Friday that the United Nations was not yet ready to impose an international tribunal in the assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister, but would prefer the country's rival factions agree on the court.

The comments by UN legal chief Nicolas Michel at the end of four days of 
talks with Lebanese officials and opposition leaders reflected the hesitancy on the part of the world body to impose the tribunal - a move that has been officially requested by Lebanon's Western-backed government.
Michel has been trying to get the rivals to agree on establishing the court to try suspects in the 2005 slaying of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, an issue that has sharply polarized the country.

I reiterated my conviction that the preferred outcome would be the early establishment of the tribunal after agreement among the Lebanese parties, Michel told a news conference.

Michel also indicated the United Nations would give the two sides in the divisive issue more time to resolve their differences and come up with a 
compromise.

An intervention by the U.N. Security Council imposing the court would have bypassed the Lebanese legislature, which must ratify the agreement between Beirut and the U.N. creating the international court.

The issue of the tribunal is at the core of a deep political crisis between the U.S.-backed government and opposition groups backed by Syria and Iran - a conflict that has turned violent, killing nine people in recent months.

Michel capped his weeklong visit Friday with a second meeting with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora. The U.N. envoy later told reporters the two discussed the prospects for Lebanon to end the impasse and establish the special tribunal for Lebanon in conformity with the Lebanese constitution.

Michel said all political leaders voiced support for the tribunal in talks with him, and he urged them to follow through on their words. Dialogue was the key to working out the differences, Michel said, adding that an agreement among the Lebanese would create favorable conditions for the work of the tribunal, once it's established.

Michel, who is to report to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on his return to New York, denied media claims that the U.N. has given the Lebanese a few weeks to agree or face U.N. intervention. He said, however, that serious actions and goodwill were necessary to get things moving.

I hope that our efforts will bear fruit and that the parties will continue to seek a solution to the impasse and I urge them to do so, he said.

The Lebanese opposition parliament speaker has stalled on convening the legislature to approve the court. The Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah, which is leading the opposition has argued that while it is not against the court as such, it wants to first discuss the terms for establishing the tribunal.

Its followers have been camping out in downtown Beirut for months demanding Saniora's government give the opposition a veto-wielding share in a new Cabinet. Saniora has refused to step down.

Michel also said that the Lebanese factions agreed to continue discussions with the United Nations but did not elaborate.

Lebanon's anti-Syrian faction blames Damascus for the massive truck bombing that killed Hariri and 22 other people and claims the Syrians are using their Lebanese allies, including Hezbollah, to undermine the formation of the tribunal. Syria denies the accusations.