UN report: Hariri probe progressing, killers were experienced terrorists News
UN report: Hariri probe progressing, killers were experienced terrorists

[JURIST] Progress continues to be made in the investigation into the February 2005 Beirut bombing assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive], according to an interim report presented to the UN Security Council [official website] Tuesday. Chief UN investigator Serge Brammertz [official profile], successor to German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, said that Syria has been complying with almost all requests from the UN investigative team since Brammertz took over the Hariri probe [UN backgrounder] in January. The report indicated that UN investigators were given access to records regarding the political arena in Lebanon and reviewed archives of Syrian military intelligence. AFP has more.

The report also said that investigators believe the individuals who carried out Hariri's assassination were experienced terrorists who were very "professional" in their planning and execution. Investigators said they cannot yet release the names of plotters because the probe is currently at a critical stage. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad [BBC profile] and Vice President Farouq al-Shara are expected to meet with UN investigators in April to discuss the assassination. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN General Assembly approves Palestine partition plan

The UN General Assembly approved UN Resolution Resolution 181 (II) on November 29, 1947, recommending that the British Mandate for Palestine be split into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone for Jerusalem. The vote in the assembly was 33 for to 13 against, with 10 abstentions. The resolution sparked a war between Palestinian Arabs and Jews in 1947 and a wider war after Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded the new State of Israel in 1948. Read Resolution 181 (II).

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On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab territories, leading to the establishment of a Jewish state the following year. Read UN General Assembly Resolution 181.

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