Vote on Hariri Tribunal Seen as Early as May 29

By Jay Solomon
May 24, 2007
The Wall Street Journal
Original Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117994780323512406.html

A U.N. Security Council vote on establishing an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 murder of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is expected as early as May 29.
The U.S., France and U.K. are initiating discussions inside the Security Council on the resolution Thursday, according to U.S. diplomats, and the actual vote is expected next Tuesday. Permanent Security Council members China and Russia, and non-permanent members South Africa and Qatar, are among the countries that might oppose the Hariri court, according to U.S. and Lebanese officials.
The international tribunal stands at the center of a rising political and security crisis in Lebanon. Pro-Syrian political parties inside Lebanon, including the Shiite militia and social movement, Hezbollah, have been seeking to topple Prime Minister Fuad Siniora's government, in part because of its opposition to the Hariri court. Initial U.N. investigations into Hariri's murder have implicated senior Syrian intelligence officials.
The inability of Lebanon's parliament to ratify the U.N.'s court has forced the U.S. and its allies to seek a new Security Council resolution that wouldn't require Lebanese consent. Members of Siniora's government hope the tribunal could be established as early as this year.
Still, many Lebanese fear even more violence could engulf Lebanon should the tribunal move forward.
Lebanese officials also charge Damascus with fomenting recent violence inside Lebanon as a means to derail the tribunal process, a charge Syria has denied. Over the past week, bombs have struck Sunni and Christian enclaves around Beirut, and dozens have died in fighting between the Lebanese army and a Sunni militia, Fatah al Islam.