A new report by the International Independent Investigation Commission (IIIC) provides evidence that a criminal network was responsible for the massive car bombing that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 22 others in Beirut in February 2005.

The report provides evidence that a network of individuals acted in concert to carry out the assassination of Mr. Hariri and that this same network, or parts of it, is linked to some of the other cases that fall within the mandate of the commission.

The report was submitted to the Security Council by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Secretary-General Ban and the UN are taking steps to set up the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to try those responsible for the death of Mr. Hariri and Council members have welcomed a report that showed the Secretary-General is making significant progress.

A headquarters agreement has been signed with the Netherlands, a prosecutor and a registrar have been appointed, and a management committee has been established. Financial contributions and pledges have also come from several UN Member States.

Once it is formally established, it will be up to the Special Tribunal to determine whether other political killings in Lebanon since October 2004 were connected to the assassination of Mr. Hariri and could therefore be dealt with by the tribunal.

Vitaly Churkin of the Russian Federation, the Council president for March, read out a press statement saying that Mr. Ban's efforts in establishing the court were "based on the highest international standards of criminal justice."

With 40 United Nations staff members under arrest, detained or missing worldwide, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has highlighted the heightened risk to the world body posed by global terrorism.

There were 273 cases of arrests and detentions of humanitarian and UN staff by State and non-State actors between July 2006 and June 2007, according to the latest report of the Secretary-General on the safety and security of humanitarian personnel.

 

 

At least six UN staff members were missing during that period in Côte d'Ivoire, Indonesia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sri Lanka.

The threats of violence, hostility and crime UN staff have long faced are now compounded by international terrorism, Mr. Ban said in a message in observance of the 23rd International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members.

"At a time when the UN is needed to do more in a rising number of high-risk locations, the dangers are ever greater," he observed. "We must meet this challenge and do much more to protect our staff."

Afghanistan Attacks

In late March, two unknown assailants opened fire on a 12-person team working for the Afghan Technical Consultants, a partner of the UN Mine Action Center for Afghanistan (UNMACA), and claimed five lives and injured seven others.

"Deminers put their lives at risk every day to ensure the safety of Afghanistan's communities," Bo Asplund, the Secretary-General's Acting Special Representative, said in a statement issued in Kabul. "It is abhorrent that anyone would target individuals working to free the people of Afghanistan from the scourge of landmines."

Darfur Attacks

Three World Food Programme (WFP) drivers were killed in two separate attacks in Darfur, also in late March, in the latest string of hijackings, abductions and killings in Sudan.

One of the drivers, Mohamed Ali, was shot dead and his assistant was seriously injured by unidentified assailants while traveling on the main route into Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state.

Already this year, 56 trucks have been involved in hijackings, with 36 trucks still missing and 24 drivers unaccounted for. Another six passenger vehicles belonging to WFP have also been stolen in the Darfur region.

Calling the situation "completely unacceptable," WFP's representative in Sudan, Kenro Oshidari, said the agency's contracted trucking companies and drivers were facing daily acts of violence.

Mr. Oshidari said the recent surge in banditry meant WFP had to curtail its food deliveries to Darfur by half, with the turnaround time for deliveries slowed because of the dangers posed to truckers while driving on roads in the region. The agency currently provides a monthly food ration to more than two million Darfurians.

Banditry has become increasingly frequent in Darfur, where in the past five years more than 200,000 people have been killed and at least 2.2 million others displaced from their homes because of fighting between rebels, government forces and allied militiamen.

Last December, 17 UN staff members perished in a terror attack on UN offices in Algiers, Algeria.

In response, Secretary-General Ban established the Independent Panel on Safety and Security of UN Personnel and Premises, which is being led by veteran diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi.

The six-member panel is examining how the UN and its Member States can bolster the safety and security for the Organization's people and premises globally.