Security Council to help Lebanon probe
Council approves Beirut's request for UN assistance in investigating assassination of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel
The Security Council gave quick approval late Wednesday to Lebanon's request for UN assistance in investigating the latest assassination of an anti-Syrian Cabinet minister.
The council acted just hours after Secretary-General Kofi Annan sent a letter informing members that Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Spniora wanted "technical assistance" for his government's investigation of Tuesday's killing of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.
Siniora wanted help from a UN commission already investigating the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
"We have decided to respond swiftly," Peru's UN Ambassador Jorge Voto-Bernales, the current council president, told reporters minutes after signing a letter to Annan approving the assistance.
Argentina's UN Ambassador Cesar Mayoral said if the letter was sent Wednesday, "the investigation could start tomorrow."
'Act as rapidy as possible'
US Ambassador John Bolton strongly backed Siniora's request and said earlier Wednesday that "it would be prudent" for the council to act "as rapidly as possible while the crime scene evidence is still fresh and before obstruction of justice can take place."
In its letter to Annan, the council said it was "determined to support the government of Lebanon in its efforts to bring to justice the perpetrators, organizers, and sponsors of the assassination of Pierre Gemayel and other assassinations."
Gemayel, 34, was assassinated hours before the Security Council approved a tribunal to prosecute the suspected killers of Hariri and 14 other Lebanese.
Hariri's death sparked huge protests against Syria, which was widely seen as culpable. Syria denied involvement, but was forced to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, ending a 29-year presence.
Bolton said the United States will push to add Gemayel's assassination to the list of killings considered by the tribunal.
With the Security Council's green light, it is now up to the Lebanese government to give final approval to the tribunal's establishment.
