The murder of a Lebanese minister came on Tuesday as the UN Security Council was due to reach a decision later in the day on proposals to establish an international court to try suspects in the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The 15 council members was to meet at 3:30 p.m.(2030 GMT) to discuss and then possibly endorse the proposed tribunal in a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan who submitted his proposals to the council last Wednesday.

Peru's ambassador Jorge Voto-Bernales, the council president for this month, circulated on Monday among council members the letter that endorses the establishment of the court. The letter would be considered approved if no council member objects over a 24-hour period.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton urged the council on Tuesday to back the establishment of the international tribunal, saying the killing of Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel had shown the need to set up such a court.

Nassir Andulaziz al-Nasser, Qatar's envoy to the United Nations, said he had no problem with the plan except for some more clarification, stressing the need to pay respect to the Lebanese constitution in the process of setting up the court.

Annan has expressed shock at the murder of Gemayel, saying "such acts of terrorism undermine Lebanon's stability, are unacceptable and have no place in a democratic and open society," his spokesman said.

Gemayel was shot dead on a street in the suburb of Beirut on Tuesday. The 34-year-old Gemayel was a Christian leader in Lebanon and son of former president Amin Gemayel. He was a supporter of the anti-Syrian parliament majority.

Hariri and 22 other people were killed in a powerful bombing on the Beirut seafront on Feb. 14 last year, causing a mass anti- Syrian wave which prompted the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.

Security Council resolution 1664, adopted on March 29, asked Annan to negotiate an agreement with the government aimed at establishing an international tribunal to help Lebanon "in the search for the truth and in holding all those involved in this terrorist attack accountable."

Source: Xinhua