BEIRUT, Lebanon, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- The work of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is in the hands of its prosecutor, a spokesman for the United Nations said.
The U.N.-backed tribunal is investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hariri and 22 other people died in a massive bombing in downtown Beirut.
Farhan Haq, a spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, defended the work of the tribunal's previous prosecutors, Detlev Mehlis and Serge Brammertz.
"And now the investigation is in the hands of Daniel Bellemare and he will decide how to proceed accordingly," Lebanon's Daily Star newspaper quoted the spokesman as saying.
Haq added that the United Nations wasn't controlling the work of the tribunal or the decisions made by its prosecutor.
Damascus and Hezbollah were blamed for the assassination of the former prime minister. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the slain prime minister's son, said recently that it was wrong to blame Damascus. Hezbollah, which said its own members could be indicted by the tribunal, said it has evidence to suggest Israel is tied to the plot.
Bellemare has stated he won't draft an indictment until he is satisfied he has all the evidence in the case.
