The son of slain former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al Hariri is demanding that those responsible for the assassination of his father be brought before an international tribunal. Speaking Saturday following the publication of a UN report linking high-level Lebanese and Syrian officials to the crime, he said his family wants justice, not revenge.
Mr. Hariri's son, Saad, leader of Lebanon's largest parliamentary block, says that an international court is needed, to follow up on the information contained in the U.N. report by German investigator Detlev Mehlis. The report pointed to the involvement of top Lebanese and Syrian officials in the assassination of his father, the former prime minister of Lebanon.
"We want the guilty parties to be judged before an internatonal tribunal," he insisted, "because the report of the U.N. inquiry is just the first step in uncovering the truth and for justice to prevail."
Mr. Hariri also thanked the international community and fellow Arab states for demanding that the U.N. investigate his father's killing, in the first place.
Other top Lebanese political figures also joined the chorus of voices demanding the establishment of an international tribunal.
Parliamentarian Ibrahim Kenaan, who is a member of a popular Christian reform party, suggested that such a tribunal was now indispensable.
"After Judge Mehlis revealed the strong probability of non-Lebanese parties being involved in the crime," he said, "an international court is needed, and we back that demand."
Meanwhile, the Lebanese government is debating steps needed to preserve stability in the country, following publication of the Mehlis report.
