U.N. council OKs tribunal for Lebanon assassination

BEIRUT, Lebanon – The U.N. Security Council voted Wednesday to unilaterally establish an international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the killing of Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, whose supporters celebrated by dancing in the streets of Beirut.

The vote at U.N. headquarters in New York was 10-0 with five abstentions – Russia, China, South Africa, Indonesia and Qatar. Nine votes were needed for passage. The five countries that abstained objected to establishing the tribunal without approval of Lebanon’s parliament and to a provision that would allow the resolution to be militarily enforced.

Holding back tears, Hariri’s son said in Lebanon that the resolution was a turning point that would protect his country from further assassinations. Saad Hariri called it a “victory the world has given to oppressed Lebanon and a victory for an oppressed Lebanon in the world.”

“Enough divisions. … Let’s put our energies together for the sake of the nation,” he said.

A massive suicide truck bomb in Beirut killed Hariri and 22 others in February 2005. The first U.N. chief investigator, Germany’s Detlev Mehlis, said the complexity of the assassination suggested Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services played a role. Four Lebanese generals, top pro-Syrian security chiefs, have been under arrest for 20 months, accused of involvement.

The issue of the tribunal has sharply polarized Lebanon. It is at the core of a deep political crisis between the Western-backed government and the Syrian-backed opposition led by Hezbollah. The tensions have taken on an increasingly sectarian tone and erupted into street battles in recent months, killing 11 people.