UNITED NATIONS, April 7 (UPI) -- The U.N. Security Council Thursday unanimously approved an international independent commission to investigate the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
"He was a symbol of national and spiritual values after which the Lebanese people united, and they area looking forward to the commission finding out who the perpetrators are," said Boutros Asaker, director of political affairs for Lebanon's Foreign Ministry, who attended the council session.
"Lebanon stresses its full commitment to cooperate with the commission (and) to implementing its provisions within the framework of its sovereignty and legal system," he told reporters outside the council's chamber after the vote.
Insuring the nation's sovereignty was one of the principal points of negotiations leading up to adoption of the resolution, diplomats said.
Hariri was killed along with 19 others in a huge bomb attack in Beirut Feb. 14. Some immediately pointed to Syria, which vigorously denied the accusations.
The assassination has led to Syria's promise to withdraw all its forces from Lebanon by the end of this month.
The council resolution authorizes "an international independent investigation commission based in Lebanon to assist the Lebanese authorities in their investigation of all aspects of this terrorist act, including to help identify its perpetrators, sponsors, organizers and accomplices."
Sponsored by Britain, France, Greece, Japan, Philippines, Romania and the United States, the measure followed the recommendation of a U.N. inquiry into the attack that found Lebanon's own probe seriously flawed and declared Syria, with thousands of troops in its smaller neighbor, primarily responsible for the political tension preceding the assassination.
The earlier U.N. inquiry was led by Peter Fitzgerald, a deputy Irish national police commissioner. He was appointed by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan after the council requested the secretary-general report urgently on the circumstances, causes and consequences of the attack.
Noting the mission's finding that the Lebanese investigation process "has neither the capacity nor the commitment to reach a satisfactory and credible conclusion," the council requested Annan to recruit staff for the commission so that it could complete its work within three months.
However, the resolution said he could extend the commission's mandate, but for no more than three months. The commission was expected to report back on any progress at least every two months.
The resolution called on Lebanon to provide the commission with full cooperation, including access to all documents, testimony and physical evidence, freedom of movement and the authority to collect any relevant additional information.
The measure called on all U.N. member states to assist and for Lebanon to bring to justice those responsible for the attack.
Also speaking outside the Security Council Chamber, Stuart Holliday, the alternative U.S. representative for political affairs, said Washington was "troubled by the issues that were raised in the Fitzgerald report."
"We want to get to the bottom of this assassination and what we believe to be a terrorist act," he said. "We are pleased that the resolution calls upon all states to look into the facts of this unfortunate episode. We welcome the Lebanese government's assurance ... to cooperate with the investigation, and we will be following the investigation."
Ambassador Jean-Marie de La Sabliere of France told reporters there was a need for an independent international inquiry commission and said the unanimous vote was a signal.
"This very strong support underlines how strongly the council, united, wants the truth to be established," he said. "It is satisfactory that the Lebanese government made the commitment to cooperate fully."
Not wanting to interfere with Lebanon's sovereignty was reflected in the wording of the resolution.
The measure carried the boilerplate, "Reiterating its call for the strict respect of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unit and political independence of ..." that is in practically every resolution before the council.
Then, it requested Annan to consult with Damascus on establishment of the commission and directed the inquiry panel "to determine procedures for carrying out its investigation, taking into account the Lebanese law and judicial procedures."
Ambassador Abdallah Baali of Algeria, a Security Council member, said Lebanon would have to agree to accept an "international independent investigation" and cooperate, otherwise there wouldn't be much sense in sending an investigative team.
"It was clearly understood from the beginning by members of the council this was not going to be a substitute for Lebanese authority," he told United Press International. "The council was going to work with them. So, in staying within this premise, we would work within the framework of Lebanon's laws. There was no doubt in anybody's minds it was to help the government."
The Algiers envoy also said the resolution could be precedent-setting since no one could remember anything similar in recent history.
"We wanted to make it right," he said. "In the future, if we have to do it again, we should do it right."
Baali told UPI: "You cannot send a commission without the acceptance of the country and the commission cannot work without the country's cooperation. So those were the two parameters. You need consent and cooperation. Because of all this, obviously, sovereignty and the laws of the country have to be taken into consideration."
Then it was just ironing out the kinks so wording was agreeable to all.
