 This file photo shows Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, son of slain ex-premier Rafik al-Hariri, arriving at parliament. AFP photo. |
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
BEIRUT - From online dispatches
Information requests by the United Nations tribunal investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri have been turned down by four ministers in Lebanon’s caretaker government, according to a report published Wednesday.
Daniel Bellemare, prosecutor general of the U.N. Special Tribunal for Lebanon, or STL, sent out requests late last month to caretaker Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, who passed on the requests to his ministers, to provide information and documents relating to the investigation, reported Lebanon’s Daily Star newspaper.
Caretaker Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi, caretaker Energy Minister Jibran Bassil, caretaker Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud and caretaker Telecommunications Minister Charbel Nahhas have not yet complied with the requests, a breach of the cooperation protocol signed between Lebanon and the United Nations.
Copies of letters obtained by the Daily Star show that Saad al-Hariri contacted the four ministers on Feb. 24, urging them to provide the requested information and documents so that Lebanon complies with its obligations under relevant U.N. resolutions.
The Netherlands-based STL was set up by the U.N. Security Council in 2007 to investigate the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, who is also the father of the current Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, and 22 others killed when a bomb exploded in Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005. Under the cooperation agreement signed with the U.N., Lebanon promised to provide any assistance, information, data and documents requested by the tribunal.
In his letter to Aridi, al-Hariri urged the caretaker minister to permit U.N. investigators to question some ministry employees as witnesses and provide the requested documents as soon as possible.
Due to rising tensions over the scope and mandate of the STL, Hezbollah ministers and their political allies resigned from the Lebanese government in January, triggering a collapse of the government. Since then, a caretaker government has been running state affairs until a new government is formed. Najib Miqati, a prominent businessman, was tasked with the job of forming a new government in late January by President Michel Suleiman.
BEIRUT - From online dispatches
Information requests by the United Nations tribunal investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri have been turned down by four ministers in Lebanon’s caretaker government, according to a report published Wednesday.
Daniel Bellemare, prosecutor general of the U.N. Special Tribunal for Lebanon, or STL, sent out requests late last month to caretaker Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, who passed on the requests to his ministers, to provide information and documents relating to the investigation, reported Lebanon’s Daily Star newspaper.
Caretaker Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi, caretaker Energy Minister Jibran Bassil, caretaker Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud and caretaker Telecommunications Minister Charbel Nahhas have not yet complied with the requests, a breach of the cooperation protocol signed between Lebanon and the United Nations.
Copies of letters obtained by the Daily Star show that Saad al-Hariri contacted the four ministers on Feb. 24, urging them to provide the requested information and documents so that Lebanon complies with its obligations under relevant U.N. resolutions.
The Netherlands-based STL was set up by the U.N. Security Council in 2007 to investigate the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, who is also the father of the current Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, and 22 others killed when a bomb exploded in Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005. Under the cooperation agreement signed with the U.N., Lebanon promised to provide any assistance, information, data and documents requested by the tribunal.
In his letter to Aridi, al-Hariri urged the caretaker minister to permit U.N. investigators to question some ministry employees as witnesses and provide the requested documents as soon as possible.
Due to rising tensions over the scope and mandate of the STL, Hezbollah ministers and their political allies resigned from the Lebanese government in January, triggering a collapse of the government. Since then, a caretaker government has been running state affairs until a new government is formed. Najib Miqati, a prominent businessman, was tasked with the job of forming a new government in late January by President Michel Suleiman.
Uprooted Palestinian
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