UN Security Council set to vote on Lebanon court

United Nations, May 30 (Reuters) In a challenge to Syria, the U.N. Security Council prepared to vote today to set up a court that would prosecute the murder two years ago of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri.

After months of arguments between deeply divided Lebanese politicians and talks between the Beirut government and the United Nations, diplomats expected a vote to establish the court at a council session starting at 1900 GMT.

Western diplomats sponsoring the resolution forecast that 10 council members would support it and five -- probably Russia, China, Qatar, Indonesia and South Africa -- would abstain. To pass, a resolution needs nine votes, with no veto by the United States, Russia, Britain, France or China.

In pushing through the resolution, Western powers are gambling that the boost to the Lebanese government's authority and to the rule of law will outweigh any violent reaction in the region.

Britain's U.N. ambassador, Emyr Jones Parry, told reporters the vote would ''send the right political signal'' to Lebanon, a country with a long history of political assassinations, many of which have gone unpunished.

It responds to a request from Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, but the country's parliament has not approved the plan because speaker Nabih Berri, an opposition leader who disputes the cabinet's legitimacy, has not convened the chamber.

Ties with Syria Central to the dispute are Lebanon's ties with its larger neighbor Syria, which pro-government Lebanese leaders accuse of killing Hariri and 22 others with a bomb in 2005. The outcry over the murder forced Syria to withdraw troops from Lebanon.

Damascus denies involvement but has indicated it will not cooperate with the court. Washington's UN ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, warned Syria yesterday it would face ''increased pressure'' if it did not do so.

Despite warnings by pro-Syrian Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and others that setting up the court could trigger a fresh wave of violence, Western leaders say it is essential as a matter of principle to try Hariri's murderers.

Russia and other critics say that by invoking Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter to enforce the court's establishment, the Security Council is exceeding its authority.

Jones Parry rejected that view. ''Legally we can, politically we ought'' to set up the court, he said. But he described Lebanon as ''a unique case'', brought about by the inability of the Lebanese parliament to endorse the tribunal.

Western envoys amended the resolution last week to allow until June 10 before it goes into force to offer Lebanese factions a last chance to bury their differences over it.

The resolution puts into effect an agreement the United Nations reached with the Lebanese government last November.

Key details of the tribunal, including where it would be based, remain to be decided and diplomats expect a year's delay before it starts working.

Lebanese authorities are currently holding eight people over the Hariri killing. They are four pro-Syrian generals who headed Lebanese security departments at the time and four members of a small Syrian-backed Sunni Muslim group alleged to have played a role in monitoring Hariri's movements.

But a continuing UN investigation has not yet recommended who should be indicted in the affair.

REUTERS RS KP2203