LOC00:42
21:42 GMT
Lebanon
UNITED NATIONS, May 21 (KUNA) -- Some Security Council members toughened
their opposition to an American, British and French draft resolution that
would establish a special tribunal to try Lebanese former Premier Rafik
Hariri's assassins.
"To add the tribunal to what we have seen on TV, we would need to have our
heads examined. We were for going very slow to start with. Now we are even
slower," South African envoy Dumisani Kumalo of South Africa told reporters.
Russian envoy Vitaly Churkin said the fighting between Lebanese army and
Fateh al-Islam militants "complicates everything."
The co-sponsors of the draft resolution were "confident" the council would
act before the end of the month.
The issue moved to the council after the Lebanese failed to establish the
tribunal according to the constitution.
A Lebanese delegation of legal experts, which arrived here on Saturday, met
with UN top legal aide Nicolas Michel earlier today.
Syrian envoy Bashar Al-Jaafari said earlier today there might be a linkage
between the fighting in Tripoli and the talks in the council on establishing
the Hariri Tribunal.
"I would like to remind the media that every time there is a meeting in the
council to deal with the Lebanese crisis, there is some kind of trouble
somewhere in Lebanon," he said. "This is not a coincidence." (end)
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