December 2, 2009 - Daily Star - Bellemare in Beirut to review cooperation with STL

BEIRUT: Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), Daniel Bellemare, arrived in Beirut Tuesday for a week-long visit. According to his press office, the main objectives of Bellemare’s visit are to make courtesy calls on Lebanese officials in the wake of the Cabinet formation, and to review with them the continuation of the cooperation extended to the STL by the Lebanese authorities.
Bellemare also wishes to extend his thanks to the Lebanese authorities for their assistance and support to facilitate the work of the Office of the Prosecutor and the STL’s field office in Beirut, and to hold working sessions with the deputy prosecutor and other tribunal staff based in Beirut.
“I intend to visit Beirut as frequently as possible to meet with our Lebanese partners and also with the staff deployed in Beirut,” Bellemare said in a press statement.
His visit is the first since he left Lebanon at the end of the mandate of the UN International Independent Investigation Commission on February 28, 2009 to assume his functions as prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in The Hague in March 2009.
“The Tribunal is about Lebanon and the justice it is pursuing is for all the Lebanese,” said Bellemare. “It is important to show the people, particularly the victims, all the victims, that although we are operating from a remote location, we have not forgotten about them and that we are still pursuing the truth on their behalf.
“Our task has been and continues to be complex and difficult, but our commitment and resolve to fulfill our mandate have not diminished, and if anything, have increased.”