UN to set up Hariri court

From The Australian, May 31, 2007 ...

IN a challenge to Syria, the UN Security Council voted today to set up a court to prosecute the murder two years ago of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.

After months of arguments between deeply divided Lebanese politicians and talks between the Beirut government and the United Nations, 10 council members supported a Western-sponsored resolution to set up the court and five abstained. There were no votes against....

...the five countries that abstained - Russia, China, Qatar, Indonesia and South Africa - argued that the council was exceeding its authority and interfering in Lebanese affairs. ...

Central to the dispute are Lebanon's ties with its larger neighbour Syria, which pro-government Lebanese leaders accuse of killing Hariri and 22 others with a bomb in 2005. The outcry over the murder forced Syria to withdraw troops from Lebanon. Damascus denies involvement but has indicated it will not cooperate with the court.

....Key details of the tribunal, including where it would be based, remain to be decided and diplomats expect a year's delay before it starts working. Lebanese authorities are currently holding eight people over the Hariri killing. They are four pro-Syrian generals who headed Lebanese security departments at the time and four members of a small Syrian-backed Sunni Muslim group accused of having played a role in monitoring Hariri's movements. But a continuing UN investigation has not yet recommended who should be indicted in the affair.