[A-List] Russian MP warns Lebanon against intl. tribunal on ex-PM's death

["Jim Yarker" <sjy_estrien@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Russian MP warns Lebanon against intl. tribunal on ex-PM's death
by
31 January 2007, RIA Novosti


MOSCOW - A senior Russian lawmaker warned Lebanon Wednesday against rushing 
to approve an international tribunal on the killing of former Prime Minister 
Rafiq Hariri, as this could deepen social discord.

The Lebanese cabinet has yet to approve a United Nations plan for a tribunal 
to try those accused of assassinating the former premier, a strong critic of 
Syrian influence in the country. Neighboring Syria, implicated in a UN 
report in the car bombing that killed Hariri two years ago, has denied 
involvement.

Konstantin Kosachev told Saad Hariri, the assassinated premier's son and 
current parliamentary majority leader, during his working visit to Moscow, 
"We believe that unnecessary haste should be avoided. Efforts should be made 
to ensure consolidation, rather than a further split, in Lebanese society."

Lebanon, divided between the largely pro-Syrian Muslim Shia majority led by 
Islamist group Hezbollah and the Christian minority opposed to Syrian 
influence, survived a 15-year civil war that ended in 1990.

Last summer the country was devastated by Israeli air strikes during the 
IDF's campaign against Hezbollah, and at the end of the year 
Hezbollah-inspired mass rallies were held demanding the government's 
resignation.

Kosachev, who heads the international committee in the State Duma, 
parliament's lower house, said Russia backed all UN Security Council 
resolutions calling for the tribunal to be set up, but said that every legal 
technicality should be taken into account to deter clashes between opposing 
factions.

"Work should be organized perfectly in legal terms, so that its [the 
tribunal's] future decisions could not be challenged by any group," Kosachev 
said.

Hariri is visiting Moscow in a bid to persuade it to use its influence to 
halt foreign, above all Syrian, meddling in the Lebanon's domestic affairs. 
He has already met with Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov and State 
Duma Deputy Chairman Artur Chilingarov.

Russia, which maintains contacts with all Arab countries and was opposed to 
the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, portrays itself as a "delicate" 
moderator in the turbulent region.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora came to Russia seeking support in 
December 2006, days ahead of talks between President Vladimir Putin and his 
Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Asad.

Rafiq Hariri was one of the five high-ranking Lebanese figures to be 
assassinated over the last two years in a series of murders including 
Lebanese Christian cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel in November.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070131/59985406.html