UN court issues Hariri warrants

30 June 2011 Last updated at 14:18 GMT Rafik Hariri is widely credited with getting Lebanon back on its feet after the 15-year civil war Four arrest warrants have been issued by the UN-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 murder of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Lebanon's state prosecutor said.

Hariri's son, Saad, welcomed the indictments and described them as a "historic moment" for Lebanon.

Local reports say the warrants name senior members of the Shia militant and political group Hezbollah.

Hezbollah has repeatedly denounced the tribunal and vowed to retaliate.

Divisions over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), based in The Hague, have thrown the country into political turmoil and prompted fears of sectarian unrest.

Rafik Hariri and 22 others were killed in February 2005 in central Beirut when a huge bomb went off as his motorcade passed by.

'Innocent until proven guilty' Continue reading the main story Owen Bennett-Jones BBC News, Beirut

The arrest warrants divide opinion in Lebanon. Many Lebanese want to know who killed Rafik Hariri. But the long years of delay in the international judicial process have made many people sceptical wondering whether the truth will ever come out.

Others believe that the constant vulnerability of Lebanon's political system means that stability is more important than justice. They question whether the tribunal process and the risks it entails are worth it.

There are also Lebanese - many of them Hezbollah supporters - who reject the tribunal outright, seeing it as a tool of Israel and the West to discredit enemies such as Syria and Hezbollah.

The newly installed government of Najib Mikati is well aware of the divergent views. And with Hezbollah a dominant force in the new government, handling the issue is going to be an early test of the new prime minister's political skills.

On Thursday, Lebanon's state prosecutor Saeed Mirza confirmed that he had received the indictments and four arrest warrants from an STL delegation in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said his government would deal "responsibly and realistically" with the UN indictment, while "bearing in mind that these are accusations and not verdicts".

"All suspects are innocent until proven guilty," Mr Mikati told a news conference.

But the BBC's Owen Bennett-Jones in Beirut says the new prime minister is in a difficult position.

With Hezbollah now a strong force in the new Lebanese government, it is difficult to see how any arrests could be made, our correspondent says.

Hezbollah has denied always any role in the assassination.

The group claims the tribunal is a plot involving the United States, Israel and France, and the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has threatened to cut the hand of anyone who tries to arrest Hezbollah members.

Saad Hariri - himself a former prime minister - described the indictment as a milestone for the country.

Continue reading the main story February 2005: Rafik Hariri is killed in a bombing in BeirutApril 2005: Syria troops leave Lebanon after 29 years due to international pressure, despite Damascus denying any role in the killingJune 2007: UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) createdApril 2009: The STL orders the release of four Lebanese generals detained in 2005October 2010: Hezbollah urges all Lebanese to boycott the UN inquiry January 2011: Hezbollah forces collapse of government led by Saad Hariri, Rafik Hariri's son, after he refuses to stop co-operating with the tribunal"After many years of patience, of struggle... today, we witness a historic moment in Lebanese politics, justice and security," he said in a statement quoted by the AFP news agency.

He urged Lebanon's new Hezbollah-dominated government to live up to its international obligations.

Hezbollah forced the collapse of Saad Hariri's government in January after he refused to stop co-operating with the tribunal.

Mr Mikati has previously said that he would strive to uphold Lebanon's international obligations, but that he was also mindful of his responsibilities when it came to the country's stability.

According to tribunal officials, Lebanon now has 30 days to serve out the arrest warrants.

If the suspects are not arrested within that period, the STL will then make public the indictment and summon the suspects to appear before the court.

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Court suspends Chile dam works

20 June 2011 Last updated at 23:51 GMT The project has provoked protests from different sectors of society A court in Chile has ordered the suspension of a multi-billion-dollar dam project in the south of the country, following objections by legislators and environmentalists.

The five dams are to be built on two rivers in the sparsely-populated Aysen area of Chilean Patagonia.

The project was approved in May, after heavy backing from President Sebastian Pinera.

But the court has now ruled it needs to review the approval process.

It is not clear how long the court will take to decide on the matter.

The project has sparked a number of protests, some of which have seen violent clashes between demonstrators and the security forces.

The government says the dams are needed to meet the country's increasing demand for electricity.

But environmentalists say they will damage the area's fragile ecology and its tourist potential.

They also say the energy produced will be used mainly for the country's mining industry.

Rugged beauty The river Baker is one of two rivers that will be dammed if the project goes ahead

The five dams will be built on two fast flowing rivers that run into the Pacific - two on the river Baker, and three on the river Pascua.

They drain lakes in a region that is famous for its rugged beauty - a landscape of glaciers, ice-fields, mountains and fjords.

The dam project, which is a joint venture between a Chilean company and a Spanish-owed one, will cost some $3bn (?1.85bn) and is designed to generate 2,750MW of power.

The company, HidroAysen, says the project "represents a cost-effective, sustainable, reliable, and ecologically viable source of energy".

It says it involves flooding nearly 60 sq km (23 sq miles) of land, but will provide 4,000 jobs at its peak.

But other potential sticking points lie ahead for the company.

Correspondents say one of these could be approval to build the more than 2,000km (1,240 miles) of power lines needed to carry the electricity generated from the dams to the capital, Santiago.

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Karachi 'video killers' in court

17 June 2011 Last updated at 15:13 GMT Sarfaraz Shah (left) was detained at gunpoint and then shot Seven men, six of them soldiers, have appeared in a Pakistani anti-terrorism court in connection with the killing of an unarmed man in the city of Karachi.

The killing of Sarfaraz Shah was filmed by a TV cameraman and widely broadcast by Pakistani channels.

The soldiers belong to a paramilitary unit and are in jail awaiting formal charges. Pakistani prosecutors say they will pursue murder charges.

A security guard from the park where Mr Shah was killed is also in custody.

Police say they have completed their investigation into the incident and the case now rests with the prosecutors.

"We have been handed over the charges against the men by the police," public prosecutor Arshad Iqbal Cheema told the BBC.

"We are examining them and will present them in court once we have been satisfied."

'Begging for help'

The strongest piece of evidence is the video footage recorded by a cameraman for Awaz (The Voice) TV, a local Pakistani channel.

Continue reading the main story Syed Shoaib Hasan BBC News, Karachi

Police officials escorted the men into the court amid tight security. The accused had their faces covered to conceal their features.

Police officials say that they have asked for the men to be tried under Pakistan's anti-terror law, which also deals with especially horrendous crimes. They face a possible death penalty.

But public prosecutors say they still need to examine the evidence before asking for such a punishment.

Pakistan's government is under tremendous public pressure to punish the men. It is all part of a rising wave of anger against the country's security forces.

Many people are now calling for accountability in the face of instances of inefficiency and abuse of power.

The footage, which surfaced last week, showed Sarfaraz Shah, wearing a black T-shirt, being dragged by his hair in a public park by a man in plain clothes and pushed towards a group of Sindh Rangers who are in uniform and armed.

He pleads for his life as one of the Rangers points a gun at his neck and a little later a Ranger shoots him twice at close range, hitting him in the thigh. The young man is seen writhing on the ground, bleeding heavily and begging for help.

The paramilitaries did nothing to help him. He died from his injuries.

The Rangers say he was caught trying to rob someone. His family denies this.

Police said they recovered a fake pistol, which Mr Shah was carrying, as well as the two bullets which killed him. They have also interviewed 17 witnesses.

The video prompted further widespread criticism of the Pakistani security establishment, which is already under fire for the recent killing of a journalist, Saleem Shahzad.

Journalists, politicians and rights activists have accused the army's intelligence service, the ISI, of the murder, a charge which the ISI denies.

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