The official opening of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) is an "irreversible process", affirmed United Nations Legal Counsel Nicolas Michel. Despite the ongoing political crisis in Lebanon—which has been without a president since November 24, 2007—the Western members of the Security Council are today committed to going all the way [IJT-68-69-70]. On March 27, the future STL prosecutor, Canadian Daniel Bellemare, released the investigation commission's tenth report (but the first prepared under his responsibility). On the basis of evidence in his possession, Bellemare stated that "a network of individuals acted in concert to carry out the assassination of Rafic Hariri". But he was careful not to name the members of this "criminal network". In this prudent nine-page report, he underlined that "the individuals' names will only appear in future indictments which will be drafted by the prosecutor, when sufficient proof has been gathered". Thus, there is nothing new when compared to the reports submitted by his predecessor Serge Brammertz.

The setting up of the STL has accelerated in the past few weeks, with the signing of a headquarters agreement between the UN and the Netherlands, the choice of a site for the tribunal's location (in a suburb of The Hague), the selection of all the judges [IJT-76] and a Lebanese deputy prosecutor and the nomination of a registrar. On March 10, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon chose Robin Vincent, a British veteran of international tribunals, as the new registrar. Vincent helped set up the Special Court for Sierra Leone when he was registrar of that tribunal. His nomination had been expected for several months, because he was already in charge of paving the way for the creation of the STL. The identities of the judges, on the other hand, have not been made public. Michel stated that they are "kept confidential for reasons of security". There is still no head of the defense. Radhia Achouri, communications advisor for the future tribunal, stated, "We are not yet at the stage of selecting or even interviewing this man or woman."

"A political committee"

It is primarily the major Western powers that are pushing this tribunal. This is reflected by the tribunal's management committee, which includes Germany, the United States, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, the tribunal's primary donors. One ambassador, whose state sits on the Security Council, lamented, "It seems like a political committee." He also warned that the strong Western presence on the management committee could "shroud the tribunal in suspicion". However, even though Russia is not part of the management committee, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, says that "Moscow will support the tribunal by all possibly means". Achouri explained that the committee only has "a purely financial and administrative role and is in no way involved in the tribunal's legal activities". While the Lebanese government is the only Arab member so far, Achouri said that "other States Members, important donors, including Arab countries, could join it".

According to Michel, the STL already has "a substantial financial contribution, at least exceeding" its needs for the first year. The United Nations has raised 34.4 million dollars as well as promises for 25.9 million dollars, stated the legal counsel. But he warns that before deciding on the official start date for the tribunal's work, Ban Ki Moon will need "sufficiently clear indications that the tribunal will have enough resources for the second and third years". The budget is still being drawn up and "will be submitted to the management committee for approval very shortly", explained Achouri. She also believes the registrar could publicly assume his duties at The Hague "before summer".