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UN expands Lebanon investigations

The murder of Gibran Tueni, an outspoken Lebanese critic of Syria, has plunged Lebanon into a political crisis that is threatening to topple the government and aggravate an already fraught sectarian climate.
The crisis is pitting Lebanon`s Shiites, who remain deeply suspicious of Western influence in internal affairs, against other sects who seek international support against the alleged destabilizing tactics of Syria.

The latest tensions in Lebanon came as the UN Security Council prepared to discuss Tuesday the second progress report of a UN commission investigating the death of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. The document, submitted to the Security Council Monday, reaffirmed its earlier findings that Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services were involved in Hariri`s murder.

The Lebanese government voted Monday evening to ask the UN to expand the Hariri probe to include the murder of Tueni and other victims of a yearlong assassination campaign. However, five Shiite ministers in the 24-member cabinet walked out of the meeting, saying they were suspending their participation in the government.