10/21/2010

Clinton voices support for UN tribunal in Lebanon

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at the Fifth Annual Gala of the American Task Force on Palestine in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010. (Getty Images / AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

October 21, 2010 BEIRUT (KATAKAMI / AP)  – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says Lebanon should not tolerate any attempt to discredit the U.N. tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The State Department said Clinton spoke to Lebanese President Michel Suleiman by phone Wednesday.
Speculation that the tribunal could indict members of Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah has fueled a political crisis in the country. Hezbollah contends the tribunal has been poisoned by witnesses who have given false information.

Hariri, Lebanon’s most prominent politician after the 15-year civil war ended in 1990, was killed by a truck bombing.