April 3, 2010 - Naharnet - Cassese Says International Community Running Out of Patience on STL Work is Main Challenge Ahead

President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Antonio Cassese stressed that the tribunal -- set up by a U.N. Security Council resolution to try suspects in the murder of ex-PM Rafik Hariri – "has not faced any negative feedback from any international side," adding that the most important challenge for the STL is the international community running out of patience on its work.
In an interview with the pan-Arab al-Hayat daily, Cassese said he prepared a comprehensive cooperation agreement which he presented to several countries in the region and other countries hosting Lebanese communities.

The cooperation agreement was not sanctioned by any country and the response was that the agreement must be endorsed at the level of national legal structures, the thing that will take long years, according to Cassese.

"That does not mean that these countries rejected, but rather that the mechanisms of endorsing this agreement will require complicated measures," Cassese added.

"I can assure that everyone is willing to cooperate and we have not received any negative feedback up till now. What happened is that we shifted from a very ambitious approach to endorsing more realistic mechanisms which aim at guaranteeing more efficiency for our measures."

Cassese noted that the tribunal does not have the power to compel nations to cooperate nor its own tools such as police. "Under these circumstances, the only way is to convince through diplomatic means."

Answering a question on STL's funding, Cassese stressed that the challenge the STL is facing in this regard is the same one facing all international tribunals, a trend that indicates that the international community is running out of patience on such international tribunals given their high expenses.

However, he added that the STL is exerting a major effort in order to cut its expenses and utilize resources in an optimum manner.

As to speculations on an imminent indictment, Cassese stressed that only STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, who will eventually say his word, can decide on that matter.

Cassese stressed that the real guarantee for preventing any media leaks is the integrity and high professionalism of the tribunal's team, adding that the resignation of some previous STL officials was a regular thing, especially that employees of international tribunals hail from several nationalities and usually desire to return home after a certain period.

"Failure is not an option for the STL; our only choice is success," Cassese vowed.