September 17, 2009 - Naharnet - Bellemare: STL Not Ready to Indict but there is Major Progress

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon has seen a "surge" in progress, the court prosecutor said Wednesday, adding however that the court is "not ready to file an indictment."
"Yes, we've made progress, but I can't give any particulars," prosecutor Daniel Bellemare said in an interview aired on Future News.

Bellemare denied reports that he had gathered enough evidence to issue an indictment for the February 14, 2005 bombing which killed Hariri and 22 others.

"It was reported that I had a full file, that I was ready to move an indictment. We have information, but we are not ready to file an indictment. "Now what I have to satisfy myself is that the evidence that we have now is evidence that is admissible in court according to international standards that are contained now in the rules of procedure," Bellemare said.

The U.N. Security Council set up the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in 2007 to investigate the Hariri murder and a chain of assassinations targeting anti-Syrian figures and military officials between 2005 and 2007.

The tribunal, based in The Hague, started its work on March 1, 2009.

The Hariri murder was widely blamed on Syria, which withdrew its troops from Lebanon in April 2005 after a 29-year military presence, but Damascus has consistently denied involvement.

The tribunal has no suspects in custody since it ordered the release in April of four pro-Syrian generals held in Roumieh prison for nearly four years without charge.