Special Tribunal for Lebanon President Judge Antonio Cassese stressed the achievement of "tangible progress toward building a case that is apt to bring the perpetrators to justice despite their level of discipline and slyness."
Cassese stressed that the tribunal has become ready to try the suspects in the murder of former premier Rafik Hariri who was killed in a massive seaside bombing in Beirut on February 14, 2005 along with 22 others.

"The investigation has reached new lines of evidence," Cassese said in his report submitted to Lebanon's premier Saad Hariri and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who referred it to the Security Council member states.

Cassese reached a conclusion that a major network had induced a smaller network to carry out the murder, adding that the tribunal has precisely identified the country of the supposed suicide bomber or the groups that performed the crime.

The judge noted the existence of correlation between Hariri's murder and the other assassination operations that targeted parliamentary, journalistic and military figures such as Gebran Tueiny, Francois al-Hajj, Wissam Eid, Samir Qassir, Walid Eido, Pierre Gemayel and others, adding that "investigations are underway on all levels to document this correlation."

In his 60-page report, Cassese mentioned that conclusive evidences were presented to the tribunal, noting that 280 interrogations had taken place in Lebanon, "the thing that wouldn't have taken place without the agreement signed between Interpol and the concerned official authorities."

Cassese called for providing sufficient funding through expanding support to encompass other countries and international organizations.

"The Lebanese authorities are compelled to cooperate. They should commit without any delay or hesitation," he said, basing his request on the treaty signed by ex-PM Fouad Saniora's government following the 2003 passage of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1757.

Cassese stressed the importance of neutrality and avoiding politicization in order to endorse these principles as an approach in the upcoming trials, adding that STL's administration is totally aware of the challenges it is facing as a result of being the first tribunal to deal with the issue of international terrorism without U.N. reaching a clear definition of "terrorism."