Washington contributes $5 million for Hariri tribunal

The Daily Star - Washington contributes $5 million for Hariri tribunal, September 29, 2007

The US will contribute $5 million to the international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri, its UN ambassador said Thursday. Zalmay Khalilzad said the US was providing the funding to help start up the court "to reflect our commitment to the process of accountability for political murders, assassinations that have taken place in Lebanon." Fifty-one percent of the tribunal's expenses are to be borne by voluntary contributions from UN member states and the rest by the Lebanese government.
"It is very important that those who have been responsible for those crimes be brought to justice, that there is no impunity for political assassinations," Khalilzad added. Describing political assassinations as "a threat to international peace and security," the US envoy said every effort had to be made to bring those responsible to justice in order to ensure accountability "but also to deter future crimes." The court, which is to be based in the Netherlands, will try suspects in the assassination of Hariri, the five-time premier who was killed along with 22 others in a massive explosion on February 14, 2005. An initial UN inquiry implicated Damascus and its allies in Lebanon, where four pro-Syrian security chiefs were arrested in late 2005. But Syria has vehemently denied any involvement. The court also has jurisdiction over attacks against other anti-Syrian Lebanese figures carried out between October 2004 and December 2005 if they are linked to the murder of Hariri. The Lebanese government transferred $5 million Thursday to the accounts of the UN as a down-payment to the tribunal. "The Lebanese government and the UN have therefore started contacting countries which have expressed their willingness to contribute in funding the tribunal so as to have the court established as quickly as possible," a government statement said.