Prime Minister Najib Miqati will receive on Thursday a copy of a new indictment in the attacks on the three officials that have been linked to ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s murder, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported.
Media reports had said that Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen made a progress in preparing the indictments in the assassination attempts of MP Marwan Hamadeh and ex-Defense Minister Elias Murr, and the murder of former Communist party leader George Hawi.
Full StoryU.N. leader Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday named Norman Farrell of Canada as the new prosecutor of the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is probing the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri.
Farrell takes over as chief STL prosecutor from another Canadian, Daniel Bellemare, whose three year mandate ended Wednesday. The court has charged four Hizbullah members over the assassination.
Full StoryU.N. chief Ban Ki-moon will on Wednesday appoint Norman Ferrell as the new Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and will name a Judge of the Appeals Chamber, highly informed diplomatic sources told An Nahar daily.
Media reports said over the weekend that Ban has informed Premier Najib Miqati about his decision to appoint Ferrell, a Canadian, to succeed Daniel Bellemare as STL Prosecutor after he refused a renewal of his mandate for health reasons.
Full StoryUnited Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly ruled out any intention by the U.N. to set refugee camps for Syrians who have fled to Lebanese border towns or to set up humanitarian corridors through Lebanon.
Plumbly told reporters on Tuesday that he fears the escalating situation in Syria might have repercussions on Lebanon, but the officials he met with since his appointment stressed their keenness to safeguard Lebanon and disassociate it from the developments in the neighboring country.
Full StoryFormer Prime Minister Saad Hariri thanked U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon for extending the mandate of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the appointment of a new prosecutor.
Hariri telephoned Ban hailing his decisions, according to a statement issued by his press office.
Full StoryThe premier’s office didn’t receive yet any official information on the appointment of Deputy Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia Norman Farrell as Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor to replace judge Daniel Bellemare.
“Prime Minister (Najib Miqati) didn’t receive yet the STL’s decision,” the premier’s sources told An Nahar newspaper on Monday.
Full StoryDeputy Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia Norman Farrell will be the next Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor, al-Arabiya reported on Sunday.
Diplomatic sources told the New York and United Nations Bureau Chief of al-Arabiya, Talal al-Haj, that only one name has been sent to Prime Minister Najib Miqati for the vacant position of the STL Prosecutor after Daniel Bellemare’s mandate comes to an end on March 1.
Full StoryUnited Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recently presented to the Lebanese government the names of three possible replacements for outgoing Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Daniel Bellemare, reported the daily An Nahar on Saturday.
A western diplomatic source revealed that Ban had sent a letter to the government with two or three replacements.
Full StoryFree Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun announced on Friday that newly-appointed Labor Minister Salim Jreissati had become the newest members of the Change and Reform bloc, reported the daily An Nahar on Saturday.
Jreissati meanwhile said that a mission to achieve change and reform “can be achieved without creating disputes.”
Full StoryThe United Nations on Wednesday extended the mandate of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The tribunal faces strong opposition from Hizbullah, but in announcing the three-year extension of the inquiry, U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon said he was determined to "send a message that impunity will not be tolerated.”
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