August 11, 2010 - Iloubnan - UN court on Hariri murder urges submission of 'evidence'

BEIRUT | AFP - A UN tribunal probing the murder of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri on Wednesday called for the submission of all "relevant evidence," days after Hezbollah unveiled data allegedly implicating Israel.

"The office of the prosecutor has always invited and continues to invite anyone who has evidence relevant to the attack against former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri to bring it to its attention," tribunal spokeswoman Fatima Issawi told AFP.

The tribunal prosecutor "has also said that any allegation that is based on credible elements... will be carefully considered," she added. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Monday unveiled "evidence" that his arch-foe Israel was behind the February 14, 2005 bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others in Beirut.

Nasrallah produced several undated clips of aerial views of various areas in Lebanon, including the site of the Hariri assassination in mainly Sunni west Beirut several years prior to the murder. He said the footage was intercepted from unmanned Israeli MK surveillance drones. Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hezbollah is facing increasing pressure as the UN-backed tribunal appears set to accuse several of its members.

Nasrallah has said Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of Rafiq, vowed he would publicly declare any Hezbollah members indicted were renegades and not disciplined party members. Hariri's stance is widely viewed as an attempt to avoid violence between his mainly Sunni Muslim supporters and supporters of the Shiite Hezbollah at all costs.

Tribunal president Antonio Cassese has said there is no fixed date for any indictments, which "will depend on when the prosecutor determines there is enough evidence."

The Hariri assassination triggered an international outcry and led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon in April 2005 after a deployment of almost three decades.

The murder has been widely blamed on Syria but Damascus has consistently denied involvement.