Cassese Denies He's Pushing for Bellemare's Resignation

The President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Antonio Cassese, denied in a statement a report alleging that he tried to convince permanent members of the U.N. Security Council of the necessity of Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare's resignation.

He said in a statement that he "categorically denies these allegations and regards this report as part of a campaign to create artificial divisions within the Tribunal."

"Whilst the Judges at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon do not always share the Prosecutor's legal positions, as has been shown in some recent judicial rulings, this is normal in a court of law," he added.

"The President has every confidence that the Prosecutor and his Office are working professionally and expects that further indictments will be submitted to the Pre-Trial Judge in due course," he continued.

The statement issued notes to editors, saying: "The Prosecutor is not selected by the President of the Tribunal or by the U.N. Security Council. He is appointed by the U.N. Secretary General in consultation with the Lebanese government after a competitive selection process."

"Only the Pre-Trial Judge has access to the content of the indictment and to the supporting material, which are under seal. The President has no knowledge of the contents of the indictment," it said.

On Thursday, Al-Arabiya television reported from well-informed sources that Cassese had been trying to convince U.N. Security Council members of the need for Bellemare's resignation.

The report said that the STL President was critical of the Prosecutor's efficiency and extreme slowness in issuing the indictments in the investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.