The Hague to host Hariri tribunal - Dutch minister

AMSTERDAM, Aug 16 (Reuters) Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said today he expected the Netherlands to host a special court to try the suspected killers of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, after a UN request.

Verhagen told Dutch radio Evangelische Omroep the matter would be settled once agreement had been reached on issues such as who would bear the costs. ''But it is sure to come off,'' the station quoted him as saying.'' Hariri and 22 others died in February 2005 in a Beirut car bomb blast that interim UN findings have linked to Syrian and Lebanese security officials. Syria has denied involvement.

The United Nations and the Lebanese government agreed last year that a special tribunal based outside Lebanon would try those suspected of killing Hariri.

The Hague already hosts the UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court.

UN officials have said they expect it to take up to a year to get the court functioning after a UN-established commission completes its investigation.

REUTERS SV VV1547