UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has received a memorandum from Lebanon, which asks for a UN-initiated special tribunal for the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, UN spokesperson Michele Montas confirmed on Wednesday.

Ban has received the memorandum from 70 Lebanese parliamentarians asking him to act under the UN Charter and set up a special tribunal to try those allegedly responsible for the 2005 assassination of Hariri, Montas told reporters at the UN Headquarters in New York.

The Secretary-General is currently studying the memorandum, she said, adding that he remains concerned about Lebanon's continuing political impasse, which has delayed a parliamentary vote on the tribunal proposal.

Montas also noted that Ban hoped relevant Lebanese institutions would take the necessary steps under the constitution to conclude the formal agreement to set up the tribunal.

Anti-Syrian politicians in Lebanon have blamed Syria for a massive truck bombing that killed Hariri and 22 other people in February 2005 and for a string of other bomb attacks that targeted anti-Syrian figures. Syria has denied involvement in the attacks.

(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2007)