( dpa )- A special tribunal to try those responsible for a series of political assassinations in Lebanon will become a reality, the United Nations assured Thursday, though a firm start date for the proceedings has yet to be set.
The UN's top legal chief Nicolas Michel said enough funds had been received to run the tribunal for at least one year and that all judges had now been appointed, though their names would not be released for security reasons.
But it remains unclear just how far along the UN's investigation is into the more than 20 anti-Syrian politicians killed over the past few years, including that of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005.
Lebanon has blamed Syrian operatives for many of the killings, a charge Damascus denies. The dispute over the tribunal between pro- and anti-Syrian legislators in Lebanon has long been a major stumbling block in the formation of a government.
Michel said it would be up to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to decide when to set a date for the tribunal in The Hague to start proceedings. But he added that countries in the region "have seen and understood that the tribunal will be a reality."
"The pace at which the tribunal will be established will be determined by judicial ... considerations, not by a political agenda," Michel told reporters after briefing the UN Security Council.
Daniel Bellemare, the UN's chief investigator in Lebanon who will also be the lead prosecutor at the tribunal, plans to issue his own progress report in the coming days that will likely give a stronger indication of how much more time is needed.