BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- None of the suspects sought in the 2005 slaying of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri have been detained, Beirut told a special tribunal Tuesday.
Lebanese authorities in their update to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon said they weren't able to apprehend any of the suspects named by the tribunal last month in connection with the 2005 assassination.
The tribunal released the names of the four main suspects in July. They are: Salim Jamil Ayyash, Mustafa Amine Badreddine, Hussein Hassan Ainessi and Assad Hassan Sabra.
Badreddine was identified as the brother-in-law of Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in 2008. The others are considered members of Hezbollah.
The tribunal in a Tuesday statement reminded Beirut of its international obligations to arrest, detain and transfer the accused suspects over to authorities. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati had said he would cooperate with the tribunal.
Mikati was appointed prime minister after Hezbollah in January helped bring about the collapse of the government of Saad Hariri, the slain prime minister's son. Hezbollah was said to be upset with Hariri's support for the STL.
"The president of the STL, Judge Antonio Cassese, will now consider (Beirut's) report carefully and will in due course make a determination on the next step," the tribunal statement read.
