THE Foreign Ministry said yesterday it had not been asked by the United Nations to host the trial of the suspects accused in the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.
The Ministry issued a statement in response to reports out of Beirut that Cyprus was one of three options being considered by the UN to host the trial.
“We have had no request from the UN,” Foreign Ministry Permanent Secretary Sotos Zacheos told the Cyprus Mail. “Of course, Cyprus has a previous record of holding such events, as we have hosted UNMOVIC [the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission for Iraq] in the past.”
Zacheos said that if a request was made by the UN, it would be looked at as there were regulations to be followed in such cases.
Lebanon’s Daily Star reported yesterday that the UN was considering several locations, but that Cyprus appeared to be top of the list.
Detlev Mehlis, the UN’s chief investigator into the murder of the former Lebanese premier, was in Cyprus in October last year to finalise his report into the February 2005 assassination. The work was carried out in Cyprus due to security concerns in Lebanon.
The Daily Star quoted a source within Lebanon’s Justice Ministry that the other two locations being considered were Egypt and Austria.
“But Cyprus has the best odds since it is logically the closest and cheapest of all solutions,” the source told the newspaper.
In addition to being close to Lebanon, financial estimates have shown that Cyprus would be less expensive than other European countries, the paper added.
Another Lebanese newspaper reported on Wednesday that the cost of holding the proceedings in Cyprus had been estimated at $162 million, while the figure would reach at least $315 million in any other European country.
The trial could take years. The Lebanese penal code would be used, but the UN has already asked Beirut to amend the law in such a way that it abolishes the death penalty for the Hariri trial.
According to UN instructions, a mixed Lebanese and international court should be established to try the case. It is expected to consist of a five-panel bench that would include two Lebanese, one Arab, probably from Egypt, and two others from non-Arab countries. Experts in international law would also be included.
