Diplomats Say Russia Is Trying To Delay Decision on Lebanese Tribunal

UNITED NATIONS — Russia is working to delay a U.N. Security Council decision on a Lebanese tribunal, several U.N. and council diplomats said.The delay in setting up the tribunal — which would try suspects for the murder of a former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri, and other Lebanese victims of political assassinations — comes as Hezbollah and other pro-Syrian factions in Lebanon are moving to dominate the country’s politics and shield powerful Syrian figures from prosecution.The United Nations is pushing for the tribunal to be organized as quickly as possible, even before the completion of the U.N. investigation into the February 2005 Hariri assassination, a U.N. spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, told The New York Sun yesterday.The head of the probe, Belgian investigator Serge Brammertz, met with Secretary-General Annan yesterday for what was described as a “routine” working session. His next report is due in mid-December and the investigation is reportedly near completion.In conjunction with Lebanese jurists, the chief of the U.N. legal department, Nicolas Michel, prepared a proposal for a “statute of the special tribunal for Lebanon.” The 14-page draft proposal was shared with the five permanent members of the council over the weekend, with everyone but Russia in agreement that the tribunal must be set up quickly.Beirut politicians, meanwhile, fell short yesterday of a deal on a unity government that could tip the balance of power in the country. Earlier, the leader of Hezbollah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, threatened that unless the pro-Syrian factions gain veto power in the 24-member Cabinet by holding at least a third of the seats for his party and its allies, his supporters would stage mass street protests. Christian leader Samir Geagea said he would lead counter-protests.Diplomats at the United Nations said yesterday that they suspected Russia, which considers Damascus an ally, of waiting for the pro-Syrian forces to gain political power. Those forces could reject the tribunal, which could prosecute major Syrian figures, including members of President Assad’s family and his inner circle of advisers who have been implicated by the U.N. investigation.According to the latest U.N. draft proposal, the tribunal and the Lebanese courts would have “concurrent jurisdiction,” but the tribunal would “have primacy” over the national courts.The draft suggests that the tribunal be composed of one international pretrial judge; three trial judges (one Lebanese and two international); an appeal chamber of two Lebanese and three international judges; and two alternate judges. All international judges, according to the proposal, are to be appointed by the U.N. secretary-general.Several diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Sun that Russia objected to several points in the proposal and demanded that the Security Council, rather than the secretary-general, name the international judges. Such a change could delay the process significantly, as council members could struggle to agree on a list of judges.“We’ve got a number of changes we want, but we’re very concerned to move quickly to set up the tribunal,” the American ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, said yesterday. “We think that’s very important to do as a political signal.”The Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, acknowledged that he had raised several “legal concerns” about the draft proposal. However, he denied delaying the process. “The tribunal will have to be credible,” he said. “It must be based in international law” and “the political forces in Lebanon must be as comfortable with the statute as they can.”The council has been “engaged in that” for “just a few days,” Mr. Churkin told reporters when asked whether he was trying to slow the process of setting up the tribunal. “It’s something which is going to be in the law textbooks for decades, so we have to be thorough about it.”But Mr. Bolton singled out Russia as disagreeing with the rest of the council on “a lot of things.” “I think it’s significant, for example, that China has no difficulty with the statute as it’s now proposed,” he said.The tribunal would try suspects for the murder of a former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri.

Diplomats Say Russia Is Trying To Delay Decision on Lebanese Tribunal

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