Brammertz Gets Another Year to Probe Hariri’s Murder
| The U.N. Security Council has extended until June 15, 2008 the mandate of the commission investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz told the Council last week that the probe into the killing of Hariri and 22 others on the Beirut seafront Feb. 14, 2005 was making progress but will not be completed when the current mandate expires on June 15. He said in a recent report to the Council that the probe is taking place in a “volatile political and security environment” which has hampered his ability to retain staff and to finish the investigation “in a timely fashion.” The Lebanese government sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asking for the Independent International Investigation Commission, which Brammertz heads, to be extended for one year. Ban backed the Lebanese government’s request in a letter to the Council. Resolution 1748 adopted unanimously Tuesday reaffirms the Council’s “strongest condemnation” of the terrorist bombing that killed Hariri, as well as other attacks in Lebanon since October 2004, and demanded that the perpetrators be brought to justice. The resolution also declared the Council’s “readiness to terminate the mandate earlier if the commission reports that it has completed” its inquiry. The council expressed its willingness “to assist Lebanon in the search for the truth and in holding all those involved in this terrorist attack accountable.” Brammertz stressed last week that the commission will never mention any names of people allegedly involved in the plot to assassinate Hariri publicly “because this will immediately have an impact on the right of defense.”(AP-AFP-Naharnet) |
| Beirut, 28 Mar 07 |
