Lebanon's pro-Syrian president said Thursday a UN tribunal on
the killing of a former prime minister could divide Lebanese,
echoing broad fears of sectarian strife in a country still haunted
by a civil war.
The UN Security Council moved on Wednesday to set up the court
unilaterally after failed efforts to approve tribunal statutes
through constitutional channels in Lebanon, where normal government
has been paralyzed by political crisis.
"What we hope for is that the tribunal of international
character will not be, in the way in which its statutes have been
approved, a reason for more distance between the Lebanese,"
President Emile Lahoud said.
The tribunal into the assassination of Rafik al-Hariri has been
at the heart of a deep political split between Lebanese politicians
allied to Damascus and others who see it as a means to curb Syrian
influence in Lebanon.
The governing coalition, including Saad al-Hariri, son and
political heir of the former premier, had made establishment of the
tribunal a priority and welcomed the Security Council vote as a
victory for Lebanon.
Hariri and his allies accuse Syria of orchestrating the February
14, 2005 bombing which killed his father and 22 others in Beirut.
They also say Damascus was behind a string of other attacks on
anti-Syrian figures. Syria rejects the accusations.
Damascus has warned that the Security Council's move could
plunge Lebanon into more instability, a view that was echoed in
Lebanese newspapers across the spectrum Thursday.
Writing in the pro-government An-Nahar newspaper,
columnist Ali Hamadeh said "the rope was tightening around the neck
of the murderers". But he warned that the court "may not bring
immediate security. It may push those harmed (by it) to threaten,
intimidate and sabotage".
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, another Syria ally, had refused
to call the chamber to vote on the court statutes because he
contests the legitimacy of the government, which is controlled by
anti-Syrian leaders and backed by Western states.
Berri said the Security Council vote had ignored Lebanon's
constitution and the need for Lebanese consensus. "You have picked
internationalization instead of the state," Berri, a leading member
of the opposition, said in a brief statement.
Allies of Damascus in Lebanon, including Hezbollah, have claimed
the tribunal will be used as a political tool by the United States.
Hezbollah has yet to comment on the Security Council vote but has
been highly critical of calls for unilateral UN action to set up
the court.
Critics of the tribunal's unilateral establishment also saw
trouble ahead. Omar Neshabi, writing in the pro-opposition
al-Akhbar newspaper, said setting up the court without
consensus "raises serious concern for security and stability".
Hariri, a Sunni Muslim who leads the governing coalition, also
said on Wednesday that it was time to put aside political
differences and promised steps towards reconciliation to end
Lebanon's worst political crisis since the 1975-90 civil war.
Together, Berri's Amal movement and Hezbollah represent most of
Lebanon's Shi'ite Muslims, giving the standoff a sectarian
dimension and fuelling tension between Sunnis and Shi'ites.
Hezbollah and its allies have always said they support the idea
of the tribunal but wanted to discuss its mandate.
Hariri was killed by a suicide truck bomb attack on his
motorcade as it was passing along Beirut's seafront corniche. The
road was opened Thursday for the first time since the attack.
(China Daily via agencies June 1, 2007)
