?We know it was necessary and right for the council to act now,? he said. ?The tribunal will also serve to deter future political assassinations. Those who may be tempted to commit similar crimes will know there will be consequences for perpetuating political violence and intimidation in Lebanon.?

British U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said the tribunal ?is vital for Lebanon, for justice and for the region.?

?This is not a capricious intervention, interference in the domestic political affairs of a sovereign state. It is a considered response by the council, properly taken, to a request from the government of Lebanon,? he said.

France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said the vote demonstrated the council's ?constant, unflagging commitment to fighting for truth in Lebanon.?

?The council may pride itself on not resigning itself to a stalemate in Lebanon,? he said. ?The council may be proud that it has assumed its responsibilities in helping Lebanon to overcome the obstacles that it was facing, and to proceed along the path of protection of its sovereignty.?

The Lebanese government appeared fearful that celebrations could turn to violence between pro-government and opposition factions. The Interior Ministry banned the public from firing guns in the air, releasing fireworks and using motorcycles from 8 pm Wednesday to 5 am Thursday.

There was a small explosion shortly after the tribunal passed the resolution, causing no damage or casualties. The blast was in a neighborhood near a church in the capital's southern suburbs, police said.

The United States, Britain and France, who drafted the resolution, expressed satisfaction that those responsible for Hariri's killing would be brought to justice.

?By adopting this resolution, the council has demonstrated its commitment to the principle that there should be no impunity for political assassination, in Lebanon or elsewhere,? U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said.

The council's move ?will give rise to a series of political and legal problems, likely to add to the uncertainties embedded in the already turbulent political and security and situation in Lebanon,? Wang said. It ?will create a precedent of the Security Council interfering in the domestic affairs and legislative independence of the sovereign state.?

The issue of an international tribunal has since fueled a deep political conflict between Saniora's Western-backed government and the Syrian-backed opposition led by Hezbollah, which is opposed to the formation of an international tribunal without internal Lebanese dialogue.

Syria's U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari criticized the resolution. ?Definitely this is something that goes against the interests of the Lebanese people and Lebanon as a whole,? he told reporters after the vote.

The council's move ?will give rise to a series of political and legal problems, likely to add to the uncertainties embedded in the already turbulent political and security and situation in Lebanon,? Wang said. It ?will create a precedent of the Security Council interfering in the domestic affairs and legislative independence of the sovereign state.?

The issue of an international tribunal has since fueled a deep political conflict between Saniora's Western-backed government and the Syrian-backed opposition led by Hezbollah, which is opposed to the formation of an international tribunal without internal Lebanese dialogue.

Syria's U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari criticized the resolution. ?Definitely this is something that goes against the interests of the Lebanese people and Lebanon as a whole,? he told reporters after the vote.

The Lebanese government appeared fearful that celebrations could turn to violence between pro-government and opposition factions. The Interior Ministry banned the public from firing guns in the air, releasing fireworks and using motorcycles from 8 pm Wednesday to 5 am Thursday.

The U.S., Britain and France, the main sponsors of the resolution, disagreed and insisted Chapter 7 must be included.

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the resolution ?essentially is an encroachment upon the sovereignty of Lebanon.?

He said Moscow supports bringing the perpetrators to justice. But ?given the deep rift in Lebanese society ... that should not lead to negative consequences.?

Churkin also objected to the council putting the agreement ?in force,? saying ?this is something that parliaments do, and never before has the Security Council ratified agreements on behalf of a parliament of a foreign country.?

Chinese U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya warned that only a tribunal supported by all Lebanese factions can be effective.

Current Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora asked the Security Council earlier this month to establish the tribunal. He cited the refusal of opposition-aligned Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to convene a session to ratify the statutes to create the tribunal, which have already been approved by his government and the United Nations.

The resolution gives the Lebanese parliament a last chance to establish the tribunal itself.

If it doesn't act by June 10, the U.N.-Lebanon agreement will automatically ?enter into force,'? creating a tribunal outside Lebanon with a majority of international judges and an international prosecutor.

The tribunal will be established under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which deals with threats to international peace and can be militarily enforced.

The Russians, Chinese, South Africans, Indonesians and Qataris all objected to putting the resolution under Chapter 7, saying it is unnecessary because all Security Council resolutions are legally binding.

Fireworks lit the night sky in Tarik Jadideh, a Sunni Muslim neighborhood where support for Hariri runs high, as groups of people danced the dabkeh, the traditional foot-stomping Lebanese folk dance. Some shouted slogans criticizing Syrian President Bashar Assad and his close ally, Lebanese President Emile Lahoud.

Holding back tears, Hariri's son Saad Hariri said the vote was a turning point in Lebanon that would protect the country from further assassinations. He called it a ``victory the world has given to oppressed Lebanon and a victory for an oppressed Lebanon in the world,'' speaking in a televised speech.

?Enough divisions. .. Let's put our energies together for the sake of the nation,? he said.

A massive suicide truck bomb in Beirut killed Hariri and 22 others in February 2005. The first U.N. chief investigator, Germany's Detlev Mehlis, said the complexity of Hariri's assassination suggested the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services played a role. Four Lebanese generals, top pro-Syrian security chiefs, have been under arrest for 20 months, accused of involvement.