Lebanese assassination court opens

AN international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri was officially opened yesterday at a ceremony in a village outside The Hague.

The court’s registrar, Robin Vincent, asked for a moment of silence to commemorate Hariri and the 22 others killed in a February 14, 2005, suicide bombing in Beirut.

“We are not here for the United Nations, nor for the international community, but for Lebanon. We are not here for the perpetrators of crimes, but for the victims of crime.”