UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- The new government of Lebanon is expected to stand by a tribunal set up to try suspects in the 2005 slaying of Rafik Hariri, the U.N. secretary-general said.
Hezbollah and its opposition protesters brought down the government of Prime Minister Saad Hariri two weeks ago in part because of his continued support for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
Lawmakers backed by Hezbollah designated former Prime Minister Najib Mikati as the country's next leader, defeating Western-backed Hariri, who held the position for less than two years.
The STL released its indictment to a pretrial judge Jan. 17. Hezbollah is widely expected to be named by the tribunal, though the Shiite movement said the STL is a political tool of Israel.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a statement issued through his spokesman Martin Nesirky said the designated leaders of the new government must honor their commitments to the STL.
Ban "expects any government that is formed in Lebanon to abide by the international obligations that Lebanon has undertaken," the spokesman said. "The work of the Special Tribunal should be unaffected by political developments."
A statement from the U.S. State Department suggested Hezbollah was able to make political headway in Beirut through "coercion, intimidation and threats of violence."
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, however, said the allegations that Mikati was handpicked by his organization is "wrong," noting Mikati's run on Hariri's Western-backed ticket during 2009 elections.
