UN chief urges Lebanon's feuding parties to reconcile

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Lebanon's feuding parties to mark Thursday's third anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri by redoubling efforts to achieve the national reconciliation the slain premier worked hard to realize. Ban reaffirmed the UN's commitment to assist Lebanon in finding the truth about the Feb. 14, 2005 bombing in central Beirut that killed Hariri and 22 others, and in bringing to justice those who planned and carried out the attack as well as other political assassinations and terrorist attacks in Lebanon. "This solemn anniversary comes at a perilous moment for Lebanon," Ban's spokeswoman Michele Montas said in a statement.