Obama backs UN moves to try Hariri killers
US President Barack Obama on Thursday vowed to support UN moves to bring to justice the killers of slain Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri ahead of the fourth anniversary of the assassination.
"As we share our grief with the Lebanese people over the loss of prime minister Hariri, we also share our conviction that his sacrifice will not be in vain," Obama said in a statement ahead of Saturday”s anniversary.
"The United States fully supports the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, whose work will begin in a few weeks, to bring those responsible for this horrific crime and those that followed to justice."
The UN tribunal to try Hariri”s alleged killers is due to open its doors on March 1, housed in the former headquarters of the Dutch intelligence service on the outskirts of The Hague.
The tribunal will try those presumed responsible for a series of attacks on Lebanese political and media personalities, notably the assassination of Hariri in a car bombing in February 2005 that also killed 22 others.
The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since the 1975-1990 civil war, and led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops after a 29-year presence.
The tribunal will have 11 judges, including four from Lebanon.
Obama added in his statement that as Lebanon prepared for parliamentary elections in June, "the United States will continue to support Lebanon”s sovereignty and independence, the legitimate institutions of the Lebanese state, and the Lebanese people.
"We also will continue to support the voices of peace and moderation in Lebanon, and hope that Lebanon continues down the path of national reconciliation, peace, and prosperity that its citizens so strongly deserve," the US president added.
The statement added that the United States supported UN resolutions 1701 and 1559, ending the 2006 Israel-Lebanese conflict and calling on all foreign forces to withdraw from the Middle East country.