Netherlands agrees to host Hariri tribunal

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The Netherlands has agreed to host the tribunal that will prosecute suspects in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the United Nations announced. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will send a delegation to the Netherlands in the coming weeks to discuss arrangements, U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas said Friday. A deeply divided UN Security Council approved a resolution on May 30 to unilaterally establish an international tribunal after the speaker of the Lebanese parliament refused to call a session to have members ratify the statutes to create it. The vote was 10-0 with major powers Russia and China among the five abstentions. The resolution gave the Lebanese parliament until June 10 to act. When it did not, the UN-Lebanon agreement automatically entered into force, creating a tribunal outside Lebanon with a majority of international judges and an international prosecutor. Council diplomats have said that establishing the court could take a year.