Hariri Tribunal On Hold at United Nations

MAY 2, (EIRNS)--United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has recently announced the postponement of any final plans to establish a UN tribunal to probe the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri until the end of May--after French President Jacques Chirac leaves office.

Chirac, who had been very close to Hariri (upon leaving the Presidency, he will be moving into a Hariri-owned luxury apartment in Paris), was a driving force behind the effort to create a Chapter 7 tribunal, that would have enforcement authority against anyone found to have been involved in the Hariri murder in Feb. 2005.

As EIR has reported in recent months. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has been negotiating with UN officials to eliminate the Chapter 7 enforcement on the Hariri probe.

This is part of the Saudi King's overall regional diplomatic efforts, which include collaboration with Iran in attempting to break the government deadlock in Lebanon, by giving additional cabinet seats to Hezbollah.

With the outcome of next Sunday's French Presidential elections still uncertain, it is impossible to forecast how the new French government will approach the Hariri Commission issue.