UN vote widens Lebanon divide

Dubai: A divided Lebanon was anxiously awaiting last night a UN Security Council vote to set up an international court to try suspects in the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri two years ago.

The establishment is at the core of a political crisis that has paralysed the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, pitted against an opposition led by the powerful movement Hezbollah and Christian leader Michel Aoun.

Siniora has been pushing for the court over the vehement objections of the opposition, which pulled out its six ministers in November and has since branded the cabinet as illegitimate.

Hariri and 22 other people were killed in a massive Beirut bomb blast on February 14, 2005, widely blamed on neighbouring Syria which has denied any involvement.

Lebanese Justice Minister Charles Rizk said that while he expected the Security Council to approve the resolution, it should not be seen as a victory for either side. Britain's UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said the aim was to "send the right political signal in Lebanon that there cannot be impunity and that the UN stands behind those people who want to see justice".

The draft sets the June 10 deadline to give the Leb-anese parties a last chance to find common ground. In any case, the tribunal is not likely to be up and running until several months after the accord enters into force. In anticipation of popular reaction to the vote, security was tightened.

The interior ministry banned "fireworks, the firing of guns" and the use of motorbikes overnight throughout Lebanon "to preserve public security".

A Lebanese army spokes-man said police and soldiers would "intensify the security measures already taken, increasing control checkpoints and patrols to prevent possible friction".

Standoff

The measures were adopted "because of the sensitive and delicate period which the country is going through", the interior ministry said.

The Security Council vote comes at a time of high tensions in Lebanon, exacerbated by a deadly standoff between the army and Fatah Al Islam, an Al Qaida inspired militia in the north and a spate of bomb attacks in and around Beirut.