The United Nations is nearing a decision on where to hold a tribunal over Lebanon's political murders, including the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, United States and UN officials said Thursday, according to dpa. US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said "good progress" has been made by the commission investigating the deaths, headed by Serge Brammertz, who has identified a "number of persons" who may have been involved in planning and carrying out the murder of Hariri. "There is work going on to establish the tribunal and we believe that's very important," Khalilzad said, though he would not divulge which country had been selected or accepted to host the controversial court. The tribunal - set up to try those implicated in the Hariri murder and 22 other political assassinations since 2005 - has sparked a damaging dispute in Lebanon between the country's pro- and anti- Syrian factions. Hariri was killed in February 2005 in a car bomb attack in Beirut. Brammertz, who briefed the UN Security Council in a closed-door session Thursday on his work, said he cannot confirm that a location for the court had been chosen. But he said he has prepared a confidential report on his investigation to be given to the tribunal as soon as it begins functioning. Brammertz last week provided the council a report detailing work carried out in recent months. He said his investigators will continue their work in coming months, and that more than 200 interviews have been planned on the Hariri murder and another 100 interviews on the killing of 17 politicians and journalists known for their anti-Syrian views. Brammertz said his team had prepared a 2,400-page comprehensive report on the investigation, calling it a "significant step" in the efforts to find those responsible for the murder of Hariri.
