The International Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which was set up to try the suspected assassins of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, will begin its work in March 2009. The court in the Dutch city of Leidschendam will be the first international tribunal to try terrorist crimes. So far, no suspects have been named.

"It is my belief that the impending start of the Special Tribunal will send a strong signal that the government of Lebanon and the UN remain committed to ending impunity in Lebanon," says UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon. "It is envisaged that the tribunal will commence functioning on 1 March 2009," he told the UN Security Council on Wednesday.

Hariri murder
Hariri was killed by a massive car bomb explosion in Beirut on 14 February 2005. The attack also took the lives of Finance Minister Bassel Fleihan and 20 others. About 220 people were injured. The assassination sparked a worldwide outcry that forced Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon after an occupation lasting nearly 30 years.

Not long after the killing, the UN sent an international team to investigate. Based on the evidence it found, the team concluded that Syria and pro-Syrian elements were involved in planning the attack. The Lebanese parliament in 2005 asked the UN to help establish a tribunal to prosecute those responsible for the murder.

The Special Tribunal
A 2006 agreement between the UN and Lebanon established the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, or 'Hariri tribunal'. Its statute was endorsed on 30 May 2007, giving the court a mandate to try those suspected of assassinating Hariri. The court may also investigate other attacks in Lebanon, of a similar nature or gravity, committed after 1 October 2004. Ban has already appointed international and Lebanese judges but will only announce their names when all necessary security measures are in place.

French Canadian jurist Daniel Bellemare, who now heads the investigation, will become the special tribunal's prosecutor once the investigations are completed. Although Bellemare revealed in March that a criminal or terrorist network is responsible for the car bombing in downtown Beirut, he has not yet publicly identified suspects. The mandate of Bellemare's investigative team expires in December and will probably be renewed before the tribunal begins its work.

Terrorist crime
The Hariri Tribunal will become the first UN-sponsored criminal court to try a specific person for a 'terrorist' crime. The body will be a 'hybrid' international court, similar to the war crimes courts for Sierra Leone and Cambodia, with the important distinction that it will apply Lebanese law, not international law. Among the crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the court are acts of terrorism, rebellion, civil war and interfaith conflict. The establishment of the tribunal remains a sensitive issue in Lebanon, where tension between pro and anti-Syrian camps runs high.

Well underway
The registrar of the Tribunal, Robin Vincent, says the start-up phase of the court is well underway, including recruitment and training of staff, preparation of premises for the court and the raising of sufficient funds to meet the budget. The actual courtroom will be housed in a converted gym. The construction work has hardly begun, but Vincent says he is ready for the prosecutor to arrive in The Hague on 1 March 2009.