Lebanon OKs tribunal in Hariri assassination

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Pushing ahead despite threats of street violence and unrest, a depleted and defiant Lebanese Cabinet on Monday unanimously approved a U.N. plan for an international court to try the suspected killers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The vote was another step toward clearing up a mystery that has shadowed and destabilized this country for more than a year, but it also was the latest stroke of political brinksmanship between two bitterly divided factions in Lebanon.

A swelling standoff between the two groups pushed the members of the Hezbollah movement and its allies to quit the government over the weekend, and it is widely expected to soon spill into the streets. An apprehensive mood gripped Lebanon, as people braced for street demonstrations and civil unrest.

"Things have gotten out of control, and there's nothing to pull everybody back to the negotiating table," said Kerim Maqdisi, a political scientist at the American University at Beirut. "Both sides are putting on an extreme position, and there's nothing to pull them back to the center."

Anger had flared over the government's determination to press forward with the vote on the court. President Émile Lahoud lodged a stiff protest. A sixth Cabinet minister quit before the vote. The 18 ministers who approved the tribunal did not include a single member of the Shiite Muslim sect, which is believed to be the majority group in Lebanon.