Guantanamo detainee dies of apparent suicide
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A Saudi Arabian detainee at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay apparently committed suicide Wednesday, the U.S. military said.
The detainee was found unresponsive in his cell by guards in the afternoon, the military said in a statement from U.S. Southern Command, which oversees the military prison on the U.S. Naval Base in southeast Cuba. Attempts to revive him were not successful, it said.
It was the fourth suicide at Guantanamo since the prison camp opened in January 2002. On June 10, 2006, two Saudi detainees and one Yemeni hanged themselves with sheets.
U.N. approves tribunal to prosecute suspects in killing of former Lebanese premier
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council voted Wednesday to unilaterally establish an international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the assassination of Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri but major powers Russia and China abstained. In Lebanon, Hariri supporters danced in the street to celebrate.
The vote on the resolution was 10-0 with five abstentions — Russia, China, South Africa, Indonesia and Qatar. Nine votes were needed for passage. The five countries that abstained objected to establishing the tribunal without approval of Lebanon’s parliament and to a provision which would allow the resolution to be militarily enforced.
Holding back tears, Hariri’s son Saad Hariri said the resolution 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 in Lebanon.
"Enough divisions. .. Let’s put our energies together for the sake of the nation,” he urged.
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 the assassination suggested 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.
The issue of the tribunal has sharply polarized Lebanon. It is at the core of a deep political crisis between the Western-backed government and the Syrian-backed opposition led by Hezbollah. The crisis has taken on an increasingly sectarian tone and has erupted into street battles in recent months, killing 11 people.
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.
The U.S., Britain and France, the main sponsors of the resolution, disagreed and insisted Chapter 7 must be included.
Recommended for you
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.”
Chinese U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya warned that only a tribunal supported by all Lebanese factions can be effective.
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.”
In Lebanon, joyful supporters of the slain former leader erupted in cheers, wept and even danced in the streets when they got word of the U.N. approval. About 200 people holding flags cheered as some cried near Hariri’s downtown Beirut grave. A giant screen broadcast the Security Council vote live from New York. Dozens of people prayed before the vote was taken.
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.
Hariri’s assassination sparked huge demonstrations against Syria, which was widely seen as culpable. Syria denied involvement but was forced to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, ending its 29-year domination of it smaller neighbor.
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 p.m. Wednesday to 5 a.m Thursday. Some of the bomb attacks in Lebanon have been blamed on assailants riding motorcycles.
There was a small explosion shortly after the resolution was passed, but there were no casualties or damage. The blast was in a neighborhood near a church in the capital’s southern suburbs, police said.
Most of Beirut’s other neighborhoods were empty after the vote as people stayed indoors fearing trouble. Lebanon was already in a state of heightened tensions because of ongoing fighting between the army and Islamic militants holed up at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. Scores have been killed in the violence, among them troops, militants and civilians caught in the crossfire.
The U.S., Britain and France expressed satisfaction.
"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.
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.
————
Associated Press Writer Hussein Dakroub contributed to this report from Beirut, Lebanon.

(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.