In a challenge to Syria, the UN Security Council voted on Wednesday to set up a court to prosecute the murder two years ago of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.

After months of arguments between deeply divided Lebanese politicians and talks between the Beirut government and the United Nations, 10 council members supported a Western-sponsored resolution to set up the court and five abstained. There were no votes against.

In pushing through the resolution, Western powers are gambling that the boost to the Lebanese government's authority and to the rule of law will outweigh any violent reaction in the region.

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Britain's UN ambassador, Emyr Jones Parry, told reporters the vote would "send the right political signal" to Lebanon, a country with a long history of political assassinations, many of which have gone unpunished.

But the five countries that abstained Russia, China, Qatar, Indonesia and South Africa argued that the council was exceeding its authority and interfering in Lebanese affairs.

Syria said such a court violated Lebanese sovereignty and could plunge Lebanon into further instability.

In Lebanon, Hariri's son hailed the move. "This is a victory for oppressed Lebanon," Saad Hariri, also leader of parliament's ruling majority, said in a televised address. He described the move as "salvation from the long criminal series of terrorism".

Supporters in mainly Sunni Muslim areas of Beirut went to the streets to celebrate as fireworks lit the sky and candles lit the streets.

The move responds to a request from Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, but the country's parliament has not approved the plan because speaker Nabih Berri, an opposition leader who disputes the cabinet's legitimacy, has not convened the chamber.

Central to the dispute are Lebanon's ties with Syria, which pro-government Lebanese leaders accuse of killing Hariri and 22 others with a bomb in 2005. The outcry over the murder forced Syria to withdraw troops from Lebanon, but Damascus denies involvement.

Despite warnings by pro-Syrian Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and others that setting up the court could trigger a fresh wave of violence, Western leaders say it is essential to try Hariri's murderers.

Western envoys amended the resolution last week to allow until June 10 before it goes into force to offer Lebanese factions a last chance to bury their differences over it.

The resolution puts into effect an agreement the United Nations reached with the Lebanese government last November.

Key details of the tribunal, including where it would be based, remain to be decided, and diplomats expect a year's delay before it starts working.