Last update - 00:00 10/12/2006
Lebanon's president Emile Lahoud refuses to endorse Hariri tribunal
By The Associated Press
BEIRUT - Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud declined on Saturday to endorse a draft accord to create a tribunal to try suspects in the killing of former prime minister Rafik Hariri.
Pro-Syria Lahoud said the Cabinet of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora has lost its constitutional legitimacy before approving the accord. The president's action is certain to pour more fuel on political and sectarian tensions. Open-ended street protests promoted by Hezbollah and its allies, are now in their ninth day, and a huge demonstration has been called for today.
The accord would set up a United Nations-backed court to try the suspected assassins of Hariri, who was killed in a massive truck bombing in February 2005.
Lahoud, in a statement, said he was returning the draft accord to the Cabinet "for reviewing as soon as a constitutional and legitimate Cabinet is formed."
The president considers the Siniora government to be unconstitutional since six pro-Syrian Cabinet ministers, including all the Shi'ite Muslims, resigned last month shortly before the government initially approved the tribunal. The constitution, he says, requires all sects to be represented in the Cabinet. Siniora, a Sunni Muslim, has refused to resign, saying the Cabinet meetings still had the quorum necessary to make decisions, including the approval of the tribunal.
The tribunal has become the latest weapon in the battle between Hezbollah-aligned pro-Syrian factions and anti-Syrian parties in Hezbollah's bid for a third of the Cabinet's seats.