UN adopts resolution 1664 for International Tribunal

The Security Council today requested Secretary-General Kofi Annan to
negotiate an agreement with the Lebanese Government aimed at establishing a
tribunal of an international character to try those found responsible for
the February 2005 killing of former Lebanon's Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri
and 22 others.
Unanimously adopting resolution 1664 (2006), the Council welcomed the
Secretary-General's report of 21 March, in which he suggested the best
outcome would be a mixed tribunal with both international and Lebanese
participation. The Secretary-General added that it would be extremely
difficult for the tribunal to be located on Lebanese territory, due to
concerns of security, perceptions of objectivity and other factors.
In addition, the Council acknowledged that the adoption of the legal basis
of, and framework for, the tribunal would not prejudice the gradual phasing
in of its various components, and would not predetermine the timing of the
commencement of its operations, which would depend on the progress of the
United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission (UNIIIC),
set up to probe the 14 February 2005 killing.
Boutros Assaker, Acting Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and Emigrants of Lebanon, welcomed the adoption of the resolution as a clear
indication of the international community's strong commitment and
determination to punish all those involved in the killing. That, in turn,
would deter criminals and promote security and stability in Lebanon and
throughout the region. He expressed his Government's readiness to use all
available means to arrive at a clear and solid text for the agreement
defining the form and working methods of the tribunal, adding that
uncovering the truth and trying those involved would strongly contribute to
the consolidation of democracy in Lebanon.
"My government considers the unanimous vote on this resolution, coupled with
Lebanese consensus on the subject, as a clear indication of the
international community's strong commitment and determination to punish all
those involved in this terrorist crime," he told the Security Council.
By following up on the investigation of Hariri's murder, the tribunal will
"deter criminals and will promote security and stability in Lebanon and
throughout the region," he added.
Mr. Assaker pledged that his Government "will spare no effort" to conclude
negotiations on the matter as quickly as possible.
The resolution, sponsored by the United Kingdom and the United States, also
acknowledges that the adoption of a legal basis for the tribunal "would not
prejudice the gradual phasing-in of its various components and would not
predetermine the timing of the commencement of its operations, which will
depend on the progress of the investigation."
In a preliminary report to the Security Council released a week ago, the
Secretary-General recommended that a mixed tribunal, with both Lebanese and
international participation, would best serve justice.
"That balance would be determined by such important characteristics as the
tribunal's founding instrument, applicable law, location, composition and
financial arrangements," it added.
Among the issues that must be considered, he said, is whether or not all
terrorist attacks in Lebanon since 1 October 2004 should fall into the
jurisdiction of the tribunal, since the Council has raised the possibility
that the UNIIIC could expand its scope.
It noted that Lebanese authorities believe that for security reasons the
court should be established outside Lebanon.
Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz, who is currently leading a six-month
U.N. probe of the Feb. 14, 2005 slaying, earlier this month cited progress
in the investigation but stressed that Syrian cooperation would be crucial
to make further headway.
Two previous reports by Brammertz's predecessor, German prosecutor Detlev
Mehlis, had suggested top-level Syrian involvement in the assassination, and
blasted Damascus for failing to cooperate and actively seeking to mislead
the investigation.
Syria, the longtime powerbroker in Lebanon, has denied any involvement in
Hariri's murder and accused the U.N. panel of political bias.

The full text of resolution 1664 (2006) reads as follows:
"Recalling all its previous relevant resolutions, in particular resolutions
1595 (2005) of 7 April 2005, 1636 (2005) of 31 October 2005 and 1644 (2005)
of 15 December 2005,
"Reiterating its call for the strict respect of the sovereignty, territorial
integrity, unity and political independence of Lebanon under the sole and
exclusive authority of the Government of Lebanon,
"Mindful of the demand of the Lebanese people that all those responsible for
the terrorist bombing that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq
Hariri and others be identified and brought to justice,
"Recalling the letter of the Prime Minister of Lebanon to the
Secretary-General of 13 December 2005 (S/2005/783) requesting inter alia the
establishment of a tribunal of an international character to try all those
who are found responsible for this terrorist crime and recalling its request
to the Secretary-General in its resolution 1644 (2005) to help the
Government of Lebanon identify the nature and scope of the international
assistance needed in this regard,
"Having examined the report of 21 March 2006 submitted by the
Secretary-General pursuant to paragraph 6 of resolution 1644 (2005)
(S/2006/176), and welcoming the common understanding reached between the
Secretariat and the Lebanese authorities on the key issues regarding the
establishment and the main features of a possible tribunal,
"Willing to continue to assist Lebanon in the search for the truth and in
holding all those involved in this terrorist attack accountable,
"1. Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General, and requests him to
negotiate an agreement with the Government of Lebanon aimed at establishing
a tribunal of an international character based on the highest international
standards of criminal justice, taking into account the recommendations of
his report and the views that have been expressed by Council members;
"2. Acknowledges that the adoption of the legal basis of, and framework for,
the tribunal, would not prejudice the gradual phasing-in of its various
components and would not predetermine the timing of the commencement of its
operations, which will depend on the progress of the investigation;
"3. Requests the Secretary-General to update the Council on the progress of
the negotiation as he deems appropriate and to submit in a timely manner for
the consideration of the Council a report on the implementation of this
resolution, in particular on the draft agreement negotiated with the
Lebanese Government, including options for a funding mechanism appropriate
to ensure the continued and effective functioning of the tribunal;
"4. Decides to remain seized of the matter."

Roed-Larsen Calls On Hizbullah to Join Lebanese Army

U.N. envoy to Lebanon Terje Roed-Larsen said Sunday that Lebanon must try to
merge Hizbullah's military wing into its army.
Roed-Larsen, who is in charge of overseeing the implementation of U.N.
Resolution 1559 that calls on Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias to disarm,
said it was unfeasible to force Hizbullah to lay down its arms.
The Shiite party is very well-trained and highly organized and was able to
oust a strong Israeli army from southern Lebanon in May 2000 after 22 years
of occupation.
The Norwegian diplomat said it wasn't possible to collect weapons in the
hands of Hizbullah in southern and eastern Lebanon.
Therefore, he said, the party's military wing should join the army.
His remarks come as Lebanon's top rival leaders are scheduled to resume
their talks on Monday at a national dialogue meeting aimed to resolve the
country's most contentious issues, including the issue of Hizbullah's
disarmament.
The U.N. envoy said merging Hizbullah's armed wing into the army would be a
suitable solution for the Shiite group, especially that it is represented by
legislators in parliament.

Terje Roed-Larsen reports accord on 1559

16 March 2006 – Wrapping up a series of visits to the capitals of permanent members of the Security Council, a senior United Nations Lebanon envoy said today in China that there is agreement on major issues in the country’s further political progress.
“I had exceedingly good talks here in Beijing and I’m glad to say we see eye-to-eye on all the issues,” said Terje Roed-Larsen, Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Envoy for the implementation of resolution 1559, which among other steps calls for an end to foreign influence in Lebanon.
“Based on what I have heard here in Beijing, as well as before in Moscow, London, Paris and Washington, I think we have the unanimous support of the permanent five members of the Council,” he added.
Mr. Roed-Larsen, who heads next to the Middle East, met today with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and other senior officials in Beijing.
Resolution 1559 also calls for the disarming and disbanding of militias in Lebanon and the holding of free and fair presidential elections. Last year, Syria complied with the text’s provision calling for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon.
Mr. Roed-Larsen is scheduled to hold talks with officials in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

Source: UN News

Lebanon to disarm Palestinians outside camps

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese leaders agreed at national talks on Tuesday to disarm Palestinian factions outside refugee camps within six months and called for full diplomatic ties with Syria.
But the officials meeting to end a political crisis that has paralysed the country did not agree on the two hottest issues: disarming the pro-Syrian Hizbollah guerrilla group and the fate of pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud.
Further talks would take place on March 22, said parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who called the "national dialogue" conference.
"There was agreement on a lot of issues that were divisive for us and we did not think at some moments we could agree on them," said Saad al-Hariri, leader of the anti-Syrian parliament bloc and son of slain former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
"Today no one won but Lebanon."
Lebanese politicians had warned that any failure to reach a consensus in the talks could leave the country that fought a 1975-1990 civil war more divided and undermine efforts to control a public debt that reached above $35 billion (20 billion pounds) last year.
The talks came close to collapse last week when a row broke out over demands by an anti-Syrian leader visiting the United States for Hizbollah to be disarmed.
But top politicians, pro- and anti-Syrian, Muslim and Christian, gathered again on Tuesday to thrash out some of the less complex issues.
"All those gathered agreed to establish equal relations between the two countries based on mutual trust and respect to be embodied as soon as possible through the establishment of diplomatic ties between Syrian and Lebanon at the levels of embassies," Berri told reporters after the meeting.
He said the leaders affirmed a government decision "to end the presence of the arms outside the refugee camps in six months and to tackle the issue of the arms inside the camps," but pledged to improve dismal Palestinian living conditions in Lebanon also.
The politicians also agreed to consider the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms border area Lebanese land and to follow up the issue with the United Nations, which considers it Syrian soil seized by the Jewish state in the 1967 Middle East War.

Here's writing at you, Michel Aoun - by Michael Young

After watching how easily an open letter penned by my colleague Issa Goraieb
in L'Orient-Le Jour could elicit a response from a harried Emile Lahoud, I
thought I'd try my luck with you, Michel Aoun. General, can you see me? I'm
over here, lower than Rabieh, but still high enough to confirm that you're
not yet at Baabda, where I know you're dying to relocate.
In hearing you on Marcel Ghanem's show last week, I realized that you had
slashed your price for securing the presidency. You are now actively
peddling a lie about the death of Rafik Hariri, pointing out that since a
year of investigations had not reached a conclusion as to the perpetrators,
we must now accept that the Syrian regime might not have been responsible.
Perhaps "fundamentalists" were behind the crime, you speculated.
Your math was typically off, since the investigation only began last summer,
and you disregarded that three United Nations reports mentioned Syrian
involvement. No falsehood was, evidently, too odious once you heard that
Syria's conditions for supporting a new president (a condition transmitted
to the Qataris) were that he or she not be hostile to Damascus, and not
implicate senior Syrians in Hariri's death. If I had to wager, that one
phrase all but sank your chances of being elected. No one in the majority
will back someone so transparently willing to bury the truth about Hariri.
Tell me, is it true that last week you notified those gathered in the
national dialogue conference that unless you were elected president you
would consider Parliament illegal? True or not, such a threat would be in
character. It's precisely what you did at the time of Taif, when you
dispatched parliamentarians to Saudi Arabia and then declared them outcasts
once they signed an accord you found unsatisfactory. Now you're trying to
use your many strikingly decent supporters (whom you are destined to once
more disappoint) to heave yourself into the presidency.
You're probably the most dominant Christian politician today. That's the
price we must pay for 15 years of the community's marginalization.
Christians want a tough guy, and think you're him. But when you affirm your
popularity, when you ask that a referendum be organized to prove this, are
you serious? Do you really want Lebanon to be run by referendums and opinion
polls? Has it not occurred to you that the political structure of this
country was designed to avoid the dangers of majoritarianism and their
impact on sectarian relations? Applying your logic, if a majority were one
day to insist that a President Aoun had to step down before the end of his
term because he had lost public confidence, would you oblige?
You wouldn't, and you would be justified in doing so. The final word is the
Constitution. But I suspect you'll just ignore how Taif weakened the
presidency. You dream of becoming a super-president who could use his ties
with the army and the security services to impose his will - much like
Lahoud, in fact worse (matching the preferred presidential profile drawn up
by Hassan Nasrallah at the dialogue conference). You would buttress this by
relying on your reinvigorated co-religionists, but also on Hizbullah and the
Shiites. Taif is an abstraction to you, a thin membrane standing between you
and what you imagine to be your historical right to lead the country - which
you tried to enact, so catastrophically, between 1988 and 1990. And in
resurrecting a strong Maronite presidency you will bring your community into
conflict with all the others, as you did back then.
Speaking of history, allow a mild protest. With all your talk of referendums
and the like, you do fancy yourself a new Charles de Gaulle, don't you?
Actually, your leniency toward the Syrians shows you to be an aspiring
Petain. The Syrians wreak havoc, and you faithfully repeat that they have
left Lebanon, knowing full well that they retain substantial sway over key
sectors of the state. The thing is this: You want to inherit what they set
up to turn against your adversaries. If anyone approximated de Gaulle during
these past years, by the way, it was Sfeir, and you now realize how little
he wants you. He didn't defend Taif against you almost two decades ago, he
didn't risk his life all these years under Syria's protectorate, he didn't
patiently reconstitute the Maronite community after your megalomania had
shattered it; he didn't do all this, and more, to offer you a green light to
Baabda, you who were most responsible for his travails.
I heard that you tried to get a one-on-one meeting with Pope Benedict XVI
last December. You reportedly were looking for ecclesiastical icing on your
presidential cake, but the Vatican didn't oblige. You spent a week in Rome
vainly awaiting an audience, then returned to present tardy condolences to
the Tueni family for Gebran's assassination. The church has a long memory.
It remembered what you did to Sfeir, and to the Maronites.
General, the most difficult thing to swallow is your about-face on Syria. We
always knew Rafik Hariri's memory abraded your ego, and that you look on his
son as your main challenger for national authority. You're also vindictive,
and to prove it you recently described the March 14 coalition as "the
October 13" coalition - the date of your 1990 getaway from Baabda. (By the
way, didn't Suleiman Franjieh, Michel Murr, Talal Arslan and many of your
new comrades celebrate on that day?) Even as you sneer at March 14, you
forget who implemented your expulsion, and whose warplanes bombed you right
into the French Embassy. The Syrian regime may be innocent of Hariri's
death, you say, but during the exile in France you, and more outstandingly
your followers at home, knew the absolute control it exerted over all
matters Lebanese. Why the sudden amnesia?
Is the presidency worth your embracing a counterfeit version of history?
Isn't your willingness to be deceitful on Syria a sign that you're a man of
no principles, a demagogue who will play the mob only to reach the top? Do
you think the Syrians will let you live if you defy them? Ask Elias Murr.
They aren't worth your refusal to say or do a spontaneously compassionate
thing after the murders of Samir Kassir, George Hawi, and Gebran Tueni; not
to mention after the remains of a dozen or so soldiers - soldiers who died
fighting for you - were found buried in Yarzeh months ago. Did they not
deserve better from the Free Patriotic Movement? Or did avoiding
embarrassing Syria and Emile Lahoud weigh too heavily on your calculating
mind?
So general, you again hold Lebanon hostage. You want to become president,
and, like the first time around, you have no qualms about imposing yourself
on an unwilling system. You don't want to push Lahoud too hard because you
fear a hasty departure might allow the parliamentary majority to bring in
someone other than you; but you don't want to push too softly either,
because if Lahoud loiters for another year and a half your chances of
succeeding him may diminish.
The system cannot take more instability, and be assured that if you come to
power against the better judgment of the parliamentary majority and the
patriarch, volatility is a dead certainty. I recognize that Christians like
you, but our system is not a popularity contest; we need a president who can
unite the Lebanese, and you're not that person. You've repeatedly proven
this since your return last year. Even on the one thing that has brought
most Lebanese together - condemnation of Syria's role in the Hariri
assassination - you've displayed disquieting divisiveness, in fact selfish
frivolity.
That's why you should accept a new president who is consensual - why not
someone with whom you are comfortable? The patriarch won't endorse you, but
he also doesn't relish backing someone against you. Afterward, you can
examine ways of influencing a new administration. It may not be what you've
been preparing for, but the power of modesty is absolute. And since your
eyes widen whenever you hear the words "absolute" and "power" mentioned
together, I throw this out as a modest proposal.
Michael Young is opinion editor of THE DAILY STAR.
Source: The Daily Star

Lebanese Leader Jumblatt Asks Rice to Pressure Syria

WASHINGTON (AP) - Less than three years after losing his U.S. visa for saying he wished a top Pentagon official had been hit with a rocket, a senior Lebanese political leader pocketed an audience with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and received her assurances of support for his country.

Speaking in Arabic after the meeting Monday, which came within two weeks of a similar session with Rice in Beirut, Jumblatt acknowledged to reporters that his remarks about then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz had been harmful.

But they evidently have mended the strain, and Jumblatt was due to meet Tuesday with Wolfowitz, who is now head of the World Bank, about economic aid to his country.

Jumblatt said Wolfowitz had credited him in an interview with being a participant in Lebanon's ``freedom revolution.''

The focus of his meeting with Wolfowitz on Tuesday is expected to be on how the bank can assist the Lebanese economy.

Rice did not speak to reporters after she saw Jumblatt, A State Department spokesman, Tom Casey, said Rice had assured the Druse leader of ``ongoing U.S. support for the path of democracy and reform.''

While Casey did not provide details of what form that support might take, he singled out Lebanon's right to free and fair presidential elections under a U.N. Security Council resolution.

Jumblatt said before seeing Rice that he wanted U.S. support to ``liberate our country'' from Syrian influence. He said the outcome ultimately depends on opposition forces in Syria.

Rice's two meetings with the anti-Syria leader of the Progressive Socialist Party symbolically ensures that Syria and its supporters are made aware of the U.S. determination to terminate Syrian influence in Lebanon.

For Jumblatt, a sometimes quixotic politician, it's a long leap since he lost his U.S. visa in November 2003 for publicly expressing regret that Wolfowitz, an architect of the war in Iraq, had survived a rocket attack on a hotel in Baghdad.

Jumblatt, always sharp-tongued and with a history of shifting his alliances, was an ardent supporter of Syria until two years ago. A day after the Baghdad rocket attack he said he hoped it would be more effective next time ``to get rid of this germ and people like him in Washington, who are wreaking havoc with the Arab land in Iraq and in Palestine.''

In a news conference Monday at the Brookings Institution's Saban Center before calling on Rice, Jumblatt criticized U.S. strategy in Iraq, saying, ``It was a big mistake to destroy the Iraq army.'' The result, he said, is that Syria and Iran are free ``to play'' inside Iraq.

He also spoke hopefully of the extremist Palestinian group Hamas changing its anti-Israel policy once it is in power. But Jumblatt took a low-key approach on that volatile issue and said, ``I am not here to defend Hamas.''

In fact, he said his mission was to generate political, economic and diplomatic pressure on Syria and Lebanon's pro-Syrian president, Emile Lahoud, and look into ways the U.S. might persuade Saudi Arabia and Egypt to play a role.

``The Syrians are smuggling troops and weapons into Lebanon. The same people they are sending to Iraq,'' he said. ``If you don't change Syrian policy, you won't have peace.''

Under U.S. and French pressure, Syria has withdrawn its troops from Lebanon. But it remains a potent force in the neighboring Arab country, and channels Iranian weapons to Hezbollah, a militant Lebanese group classified along with Hamas by the State Department as a terrorist organization.

Source: AP

Nassib Lahoud declared his willingness to run for the presidency

BEIRUT: While most March 14 ministers have decided to attend the Cabinet session on Wednesday, despite the presence of President Emile Lahoud, the Forces have now begun to openly discuss who the next president will be. These developments occurred as the League of Maronite Bishops is expected to deliver a strong statement regarding the presidency on Wednesday.

Following a meeting with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, Democratic Renewal Movement leader and former MP Nassib Lahoud declared his willingness to run for the presidency, "if the March 14 Forces support my candidacy; otherwise I will support the candidate they choose."

However, stressing that he had not put his name forward as a candidate, Lahoud said he had discussed reaching a consensus over the presidency with Geagea.

Lahoud said that replacing the sitting president with a candidate who benefits from the people's trust and will carry out a reform movement would be a positive political step.

Earlier in the day, Geagea welcomed a reconciliatory statement from former Minister Suleiman Franjieh and called for a " Christian dialogue strategy."

Geagea further said that he would hold a dialogue with Franjieh, without giving details to whether this meeting would be orchestrated by Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir. 

However, the LF continued to refuse to attend any Cabinet sessions headed by President Lahoud, while the other members of the March 14 Forces said they would attend Wednesday's session, scheduled to be held at the Economic and Social Council in Downtown Beirut.

Geagea said that his party was trying to convince its allies to boycott the session, as "the issue of the presidency has to be resolved."

Tourism Minister Joe Sarkis, the LF's only Cabinet member, said he would abide by his party's decision, should Lahoud decide to preside over the session.

In an interview with Voice of Lebanon radio , Sarkis said Lahoud's presence at the session would have a "negative effect on the Cabinet's performance."

However, Social Affairs Minister Nayla Mouawad told reporters that the March 14 ministers will be attending the Cabinet session because they felt the obligation to "guarantee the interests of the people and assume their responsibilities in the country."

Mouawad insisted that, based on the Constitution, Cabinet sessions should be held in a location proper to the Cabinet and not in Baabda. "We consider that the presidency seat in Baabda is vacant," she said, stressing that this was Sfeir's stance.

Democratic Gathering MP Wael Bou Faour announced on local television station LBC on Tuesday that his parliamentary bloc's ministers ( Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamade and Information Minister Ghazi Aridi) will attend the Cabinet session, even if the president is going to be present.

"(Lahoud) cannot take the Cabinet hostage," Bou Faour said, adding, "Things will be said in all honesty at the Cabinet."

Asked why the LF was breaking formation with the March 14 Forces over Cabinet sessions, MP Antoine Zahra said, "Coordination was continuous among all the March 14 Forces, but we are not one party to adopt the same means of expression."

Meanwhile, presidential sources confirmed to The Daily Star that President Lahoud will be heading Wednesday's session. The sources added that the army , Internal Security Forces and the Presidential Guards will all be tasked with guaranteeing security for the meeting.

Ministerial sources said it was expected that majority ministers would blast Lahoud during the Cabinet session for his attack on the March 14 Forces in Lebanese French-language daily L'Orient le Jour and for his criticism of French President Jacques Chirac.

The sources added that Wednesday's Cabinet session will focus on the parliamentary dialogue which will start on Thursday and, mainly, on the representation of the Orthodox community in that dialogue.

The March 14 Forces ministers had refused to attend a Cabinet session in Baabda Presidential Palace last week.

source: The Daily Star

Agreement on international court in Hariri case

Thursday, 2 March 2006
Press Release: United Nations

UN legal official and Lebanese judges confer on international court in Hariri case

The senior United Nations legal official has held three days of talks at United Nations Headquarters in New York with a Lebanese Government delegation on the establishment of a tribunal of an international character to try those charged with the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and others.

“The meetings were substantive and detailed and were conducted in a positive and open manner,” A UN spokesman said of the talks between Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Nicolas Michel and Judges Ralph Riachi and Choukry Sader of Lebanon.

The meetings followed a visit Mr. Michel made to Lebanon last month in accordance with Security Council resolution 1644, acknowledging the Lebanese Government's request that those eventually charged with involvement be tried by a tribunal of an international character.

The UN International Independent Investigation Commission (UNIIIC) set up to probe Mr. Hariri's assassination, in which 22 other people were also killed when his car was blown up in February last year, has said evidence points to both Lebanese and Syrian involvement in the murder and has called for greater Syrian cooperation with the inquiry.

“Both Mr. Michel and his Lebanese interlocutors believe that the discussions significantly advanced the mutual understanding of the international assistance needed to bring those responsible for Mr. Hariri's assassination to justice before a tribunal of an international character,” the spokesman said.