Lebanese pro-gov't lawmakers call again for parliament session

Lebanese pro-government legislators called again on parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to convene the parliament session to ratify an international tribunal on ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's murder, The Daily Star reported on Wednesday.

"The tribunal will be born normally at parliament or by C- section at the UN Security Council," a statement read by legislator Ghazi Youssef quoted Prime Minister Fouad Seniora as saying.

Pro-government lawmakers have gathered for the sixth consecutive week in a bid to pressure Berri for convening a parliament session to pass the tribunal.

They even voiced support for establishing the court under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, a move that would bypass Lebanon's Parliament.

Earlier this month, Saad Hariri, parliament majority leader and son of the murdered premier, delivered the petition which was signed by 70 lawmakers to Geir Pederson, UN special coordinator in Lebanon.

Addressed to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the petition requested that "all alternative measures" should be taken by the UN Security Council to establish the tribunal.

Lebanese parliament convenes twice a year in two ordinary sessions. The first starts mid-march until the end of May and the second from the middle of October through the end of December.

Berri has declined to convene a parliamentary session and has refused to receive any documents referred to parliament by Prime

Minister Fouad Seniora's majority government, which he described as"unconstitutional" since six pro-Syrian ministers from the opposition resigned in November, 2006.

Lebanese political crisis has been last for about five months, in which politicians traded insults and their supporters clashed in the streets.

The disputes of the two rival political blocs concentrated on two main issues, namely the opposition's demand for a veto in the government and the majority's demand for the ratification of the international tribunal on the Hariri case.

Source: Xinhua