Beirut: A United Nations tribunal investigating the 2005 killing of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri, which had said it may file an indictment as early as next month, won't complete the document in September, prosecutor Daniel Bellemare said.
"The indictment has not been drafted yet," Bellemare told the Lebanese news portal NOW Lebanon.
"I will only file the indictment when I am satisfied that there is enough evidence."
Evidence
Bellemare said he's working to make sure that the evidence is admissible in court, and is still "very optimistic" that an indictment can be filed by the end of this year.
The tribunal's president, Antonio Cassese, told the Beirut-based Daily Star newspaper in May that an indictment was likely to be filed between September and December.
In December 2005, Lebanon's government asked the UN to set up a tribunal to try those responsible for the killing of Hariri and 22 others by a roadside bomb in February that year.
An initial UN investigation charged four senior pro-Syrian Lebanese security officials of masterminding the murder.
All four were released last year by the tribunal because of a lack of evidence.
Syria and its Lebanese allies, including the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah group, have denied any role in the killing, which sparked a wave of protests in Beirut that led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from the country after a 29-year presence.
