Topic: Daniel Bellemare

Appointing a prosecutor to a tribunal set up to try those accused of slaying a Lebanese leader is a sign of a commitment to justice, a U.N. official said.

The departing prosecutor for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon met in Beirut with Lebanese leaders and legal representatives, the government said.

Lebanese justice officials said Thursday they had no knowledge of a pending visit to Beirut by the head of a tribunal probing the assassination of Rafik Hariri.

Beirut has until Thursday to hand over a progress report on its efforts to arrest the four suspects wanted for assassinating Rafik Hariri, a tribunal said.

Anyone named by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, the special prosecutor announced Tuesday.

The prosecutor at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon announced Monday he submitted an indictment and supporting materials to a pretrial judge.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon said it is the only authority tasked with reaching conclusions on the assassination of a Lebanese leader in 2005.

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 investigating the slaying of a former Lebanese prime minister isn't expected to release indictments by the fall, a prosecutor said.

Reports that the head of a U.N. team investigating the assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister is stepping down are false, representatives say.