The United States will contribute five million dollars to the U.N.-backed international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 murder of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad said Washington was providing the funding to help start up the tribunal "to reflect our commitment to the process of accountability for political murders, assassinations that have taken place in Lebanon."
Fifty-one percent of the expenses of the tribunal are to be borne by voluntary contributions from U.N. member states and 49 percent by the Lebanese government.
Describing political assassinations as "a threat to international peace and security," the U.S. envoy said that every effort had to be made to bring those responsible to justice in order to ensure accountability "but also to deter future crimes."
The court, which is to be based in the Netherlands, will try suspects in the assassination of Hariri, who was killed along with 22 others in a massive explosion on the Beirut seafront on February 14, 2005.