Arab Lawyers Call for Support for International Tribunal

Arab lawyers have called on Lebanon and the rest of the Arab world to embrace the Special Tribunal for Lebanon set up to prosecute the suspected assassins of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Lawyers from the Arab world are meeting to discuss the tribunal as it prepares to publish the first indictment — expected within a few weeks — naming suspects in the 2005 bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others.

Mohammed Ayat, a senior legal advisor to the prosecutor of the Rwanda Tribunal, told Tuesday's conference at The Hague that the Arab world "cannot be a simple observer" in international efforts to prosecute atrocities.

There are fears that Hizbullah will block the tribunal's work after its candidate, Najib Miqati, was named prime minister-designate.(AP-Naharnet)