UN Undersecretary General for Legal Affairs Nicholas Michel has said that the UN would push through the international tribunal on Hariri's assassination if the Lebanese legislature failed to ratify it, local As Safir daily reported on Saturday.

"If the statutes of the tribunal laid out in the accord between the United Nations and the Lebanese government are not ratified in accordance with Lebanese constitutional procedures, other ways will have to be found," the report quoted Michel as saying.

Michel has been trying to get Lebanese anti-government bloc to agree on establishing the court to try suspects in the 2005 murder of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri, an issue that has sharply polarized the country.

Michel said all political leaders voiced support for the tribunal in talks with him, and he urged them to follow through on their words.

Dialogue was the key to working out the differences, Michel said,adding an agreement among the Lebanese would create " favorable conditions" for the work of the tribunal, once it's established.

Michel, who is to report to UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon on his return to New York, denied media claims the UN has given the Lebanese a few weeks to agree or face UN intervention. He said, however, that serious actions and goodwill were necessary to get things moving.

"I hope that our efforts will bear fruit and that the parties will continue to seek a solution to the impasse and I urge them to do so," he said.

Michel also disclosed that the Lebanese factions "agreed to continue discussions with the United Nations" but didn't elaborate.

He capped his weeklong visit Friday with a second meeting with Seniora and Speaker Nabih Berri who is refusing to convene parliament to ratify the tribunal and left Lebanon on Saturday morning.

Source: Xinhua