Lebanese bishops say crisis would deepen if Hariri tribunal formed

Published: 2007-03-09

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNS) -- Lebanon's Maronite Catholic bishops said the country's political crisis would deepen if a U.N. tribunal is formed to investigate the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Resorting to the tribunal "will prove that our small country is divided and unable to handle its affairs on its own," said the bishops in a March 7 statement. "It will paralyze Lebanon more than it is already paralyzed." The bishops' statement was published March 8 in Lebanon's Daily Star newspaper. Many government supporters claim the ongoing Hezbollah-led campaign to topple the country's Cabinet is a coup attempt, which has been instigated by Hezbollah's backers in Syria and is aimed at thwarting the tribunal's creation. Syrian senior officials have been implicated in the killing of Hariri and 22 others in a massive bomb blast in downtown Beirut on Valentine's Day in 2005. Pro-government leaders have argued that if Lebanon's paralyzed legislature is unable to ratify plans for the tribunal, the United Nations should do so under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter.

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