UNITED NATIONS: U.N. Secretary General has extended the U.N.-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of Lebanons former prime minister Rafik Hariri for two years and reaffirmed the United Nations commitment to support its work in bringing to justice those responsible for major crimes, the United Nations said Thursday.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the extension will begin on March 1 and will last until the Special Tribunal for Lebanon completes its cases or exhausts available funds.
The Valentines Day 2005 truck bombing on Beiruts seafront that killed former prime minister Hariri and 21 others and injured 226 sparked huge protests against Syria, which was widely seen as culpable. Damascus denied involvement but was forced to withdraw its troops from Lebanon after 29 years there.
The U.N. investigation into Hariris assassination was broadened to include 14 other Lebanese killings.
The Netherlands-based Special Tribunal sentenced Salim Ayyash, a member of the Hezbollah militant group, in absentia to life imprisonment in December for his involvement in Hariris assassination. Ayyash has never been arrested. Three other Hezbollah members tried with him were acquitted.
Guterres said in a letter to the council circulated on Feb. 19 that the president of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Judge Ivana Hrdlikov, informed him in November that its work wouldnt be finished by the expiration of its mandate Feb. 28 and asked or a two-year extension to significantly advance its work towards completion.
Lebanon, which is mandated to pay 49 percent of the tribunals costs, faces a dire financial situation which has left the tribunal with a serious funding shortfall. Its economic and financial crisis, which began in late 2019, is the countrys worst in modern history, with the economy contracting 19% in 2020.
The remaining 51 percent of the tribunals funding comes from voluntary contributions.
Guterres told the Security Council earlier this month that an urgent appeal to all 193 U.N. member states and the international community in December failed to generate any new funding for the tribunal.
After consulting Lebanons government and Security Council members, Guterres said he intends to request approximately $25 million from the General Assembly, called a subvention, to cover the anticipated shortfall in funding from the Lebanese government and donors in 2021. This would be temporary, while the tribunal seeks additional funds, he said.
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