UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th February, 2021) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has extended the mandate of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, investigating the 2005 attack in Beirut, which killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, until March 2023, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Thursday.
"The Secretary-General has extended the mandate of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon from March 1 2021 for a further period of two years, or until the completion of the cases before the Special Tribunal, if sooner, or the exhaustion of available funds, if sooner," Dujarric said in a statement.
The spokesman said within the next two years, the Hague-based tribunal is expected to draw down its activities as its judicial work is completed.
Earlier in the month, the President of the special tribunal in a letter to the UN chief had asked for a two-year extension after it became clear the tribunal's work could not be completed by the mandate's expiration after February 28, 2021.
Hariri was killed by a suicide truck bomb in Beirut on February 14, 2005. The UN Security Council established the Special Tribunal in 2007 to investigate the attack that, apart from Hariri, killed 22 and injured 226.
In August, the tribunal exonerated three main suspects: Hussein Hassan Oneissi, Hassan Habib Merhi, and Assad Hassan Sabra. Simultaneously, the tribunal declared Salim Jamil Ayyash, a Hezbollah member, guilty on all counts.
On December 11, Ayyash was sentenced in absentia to five concurrent life imprisonment terms. A month later, the defense filed notices of appeals, the proceedings of which are currently ongoing.
