Netherlands: An international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was starting work Sunday with an opening ceremony at its headquarters in a village outside The Hague.
Court prosecutor Daniel Bellemare of Canada said in a television interview he expects to ask within weeks for Lebanon to transfer to the court four pro-Syrian generals who are suspects in the February 14, 2005, suicide bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others in Beirut.
The request, "will be made as soon as possible," Bellemare told pan-Arab al-Arabiya satellite TV channel.
"I have no reasons to believe that the Lebanese authorities will not respond in a timely fashion to the request," he added.
The generals led Lebanon's police, intelligence service and an elite army unit at the time of the assassination. They are the only people in custody, though they have not been formally charged.
The new court already has a wing ready to detain suspects in a Hague jail that already holds Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and former Liberian President Charles Taylor, among other international war crimes suspects.
Bellemare told Dubai-based and Saudi-funded al-Arabiya he was not yet in a position to issue indictments despite four years of complex investigations.
"I will move on the indictments when I am ready," he said. "Unfortunately I cannot tell or predict when this will be but I can assure ... you I will do everything possible to make sure that the investigation moves as quickly as possible."
As prime minister, Hariri, a billionaire businessman, was credited with rebuilding downtown Beirut after the 1975-90 civil war, and with trying to limit Syria's influence.
Many in Lebanon believe Syria was behind the assassination. Damascus denies any involvement.
After the assassination, mass street protests in Lebanon and international pressure forced Syria to withdraw its troops from its neighbor after a 29-year presence.
The court was set up by the U.N. Security Council in 2007 and comprises both foreign and Lebanese judges. It is based in the Netherlands to ensure the safety of staff and an impartial trial.
The judges have not yet been sworn in and the names of Lebanese judges have been withheld out of fears for their safety.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, on a trip through Africa, issued a statement praising Sunday's opening.
"The commencement of the Tribunal's work marks a decisive milestone in the tireless efforts by all Lebanese and the international community to uncover the truth, bring those responsible for this assassination and related crimes to justice and end impunity," he said.
The Hariri court is the latest international tribunal to be based in the Netherlands. The Hague is home to the International Court of Justice, the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal and the International Criminal Court.
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