Daily Star - Ban Ki Moon informe Siniora des avancees de l'etablissement du tribunal ; la Syrie denonce le manque de critique du rapport de Ban Ki Moon a l'egard des violations commises par Israel, 10 march 2008
UN chief Ban Ki-Moon informed Prime Minister Fouad Siniora during a phone conversation Saturday that preparations for the international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri were under way. Ban also told Siniora that during the last few days, a UN administrative committee has inspected a potential site for the tribunal in the Netherlands. An-Nahar newspaper quoted well-informed sources as saying on Sunday that there were widespread expectations that the next two months would see an announcement of the composition of the tribunal. Justice Minister Charles Rizk renewed his support for the international tribunal and said he expected positive developments soon. Rizk said following a meeting with US Charge d'Affaires Michele Sison on Friday that the clearest indication of the tribunal's progress was the general recognition of the trial as a fait accompli by all sides in Lebanon. He also insisted that the court was not a political tool against any particular regime. Sison in turn said that the rule of law and judicial administration were crucial to the development of democracy and governance in any society. "I congratulate Minister Rizk and the legitimate government in Lebanon for setting up such cooperation and productive coordination over the next few years," Sison added.
UN chief Ban Ki-Moon informed Prime Minister Fouad Siniora during a phone conversation Saturday that preparations for the international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri were under way. Ban also told Siniora that during the last few days, a UN administrative committee has inspected a potential site for the tribunal in the Netherlands. An-Nahar newspaper quoted well-informed sources as saying on Sunday that there were widespread expectations that the next two months would see an announcement of the composition of the tribunal. Justice Minister Charles Rizk renewed his support for the international tribunal and said he expected positive developments soon. Rizk said following a meeting with US Charge d'Affaires Michele Sison on Friday that the clearest indication of the tribunal's progress was the general recognition of the trial as a fait accompli by all sides in Lebanon. He also insisted that the court was not a political tool against any particular regime. Sison in turn said that the rule of law and judicial administration were crucial to the development of democracy and governance in any society. "I congratulate Minister Rizk and the legitimate government in Lebanon for setting up such cooperation and productive coordination over the next few years," Sison added.
In separate developments, Damascus replied to Ban's recent report on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 by asking the Security Council to inquire into the "almost daily" Israeli "violations of the international resolution." Syria called for appropriate punishment of such defiance of the will of the international community. In February Ban accused Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah of having threatened "open war" on Israel in the sixth report on Resolution 1701, which covers the period from October 2007 until the present time. He said the "threats" went against "the spirit and intentions of Resolution 1701, which aimed at achieving a lasting cease-fire." Nasrallah said during a speech after the assassination of top Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyeh that if Israel wanted "open war," the resistance was ready. In a letter from Syria's permanent representative to the UN, Bashar al-Jaafari, Damascus said that the Security Council had not once held Israel accountable for "Lebanese complaints of violation," despite calls from countries that are active members in the council." "On the other hand, [Ban's] report was rife with tendentious Israeli allegations of weapon smuggling from Syria, despite the fact that the delegated commission confirmed the absence of any such activity in recent months," Jaafari's letter said. Damascus questioned the United Nations' inability to "demand that Israel implement the relevant international resolutions and end the occupation" of the Shebaa Farms, the border town of Al-Ghajar and the Golan Heights. Jaafari also noted that the Palestinian presence in Lebanon was "ruled by the Cairo Agreement signed in 1969 between Lebanon and the Palestine Liberation Organization" and said that Syria was in no way responsible for any imbalance between Lebanon and Palestine, as all Palestinian refugee camps clearly fell inside Lebanese territory. Jaafari added that Israel's refusal to provide maps of land mines and cluster bombs planted in South Lebanon was a clear rebuttal of Security Council resolutions. Syria called on the UN secretary general to demand absolute Israeli withdrawal from the Lebanese village of Ghajar and respect for Lebanon's sovereignty, "an Arab neighbor which has suffered so much external interference." Syria also commented on the deployment of US warships off the Lebanon coast. The US initially deployed the USS Cole, which was relieved by the USS Ross and the USS Philippine Sea in the Eastern Mediterranean last Wednesday. While Washington said the deployment was a show of support for the "legitimate government," Syria has deemed it a "threat to the stability of Lebanon." Syria said that the deployment was another means of pressuring Syria. Jaafari expressed Syria's desire to establish good relations with Lebanon and asked the UN secretary general to promote healthy ties rather than "attempt to fuel differences - and create new ones - which serve the interests of no one but those who seek to harm the historical relations between the two brotherly peoples and countries."
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