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Lebanon tribunal calls for evidence in ex-PM murder

By Drew Singer

[JURIST] The UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) [official website; JURIST news archive] on Wednesday called for the submission [press release] of any evidence related to the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri [JURIST news archive]. The statement released by the STL Office of the Prosecutor invites "anyone who has relevant information to submit it to my office. Indeed, I welcome any information that can bring us closer to the truth. I can assure those who bring this information that it will be thoroughly assessed." The statement went on to call on Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah [BBC profile] to turn over all information he possesses to the STL. The request comes eight days after Nasrallah claimed to have proof that Israel was behind the assassination [AFP report]. Nasrallah said he would present concrete evidence proving that Israeli agents had sought to exploit divisions between Hariri's March 14 Alliance and the opposition March 8 Alliance, of which Hezbollah [CFR backgrounders] is a member. Nasrallah has not yet released the evidence.

In February, the head of the STL reassured [JURIST report] the Lebanese public that the investigation is on track. When asked about the progress of the investigation into the death of Hariri, the head of the STL "underlined the fact that the Tribunal already has in place all the legal and administrative instruments necessary for its work, and is fully operational so that justice may be dispensed with complete independence and impartiality in accordance with the highest international standards." The STL was established in 2005 at the request of the Lebanese government to try those alleged to be connected to the bombing in which Hariri was killed by explosions detonated near his motorcade in Beirut in February 2005.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on August 11, 2010 (boomark / email).