Report: Lebanon Does Not Have Authority to Withdraw Tribunal Judges

Western sources stressed that the Lebanese government did not have the authority to withdraw the judges from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon that will prosecute ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s suspected assassins.

“The judges were appointed by the U.N. secretary-general. That’s why the Lebanese government cannot withdraw them,” the sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in remarks published Wednesday. “The judges could resign however,” they said.

If Lebanon decides to stop funding the tribunal, then the issue would be discussed at the Security Council, the sources said.

They told the newspaper that funding was one of the major challenges facing the court and unveiled that the tribunal was seeking to find other channels in case Lebanon doesn’t pay its dues by the end of April.

STL officials will meet with leaders of Gulf countries and will continue their consultations with American and European officials to convince them “to double their shares,” according to the sources.

Turkey and Greece have already made commitments to provide funding to the court in the coming years, they said.

Asked about the arrest of suspects, the sources told al-Hayat: “The arrest of people in Lebanon goes back to the Lebanese government because the tribunal doesn’t have its own police.”

“A memorandum of understanding has been signed with the Interpol. So, If arrests were made, they (the suspects) would be brought to trial or else they would be tried in absentia,” they said.

The sources stressed that people and not parties would be named in the indictment “because a crime is the responsibility of people.”

The Netherlands-based court is expected to indict Hizbullah members in connection with Hariri's 2005 murder.

Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen is currently expected to take between six and nine weeks to study the indictment that was referred to him by Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare.

The sources said Fransen would have two choices --- either make the indictment public or keep it secret until arrests are made.