UN Hariri tribunal sets tentative trial date

07/20/12: Al Jazeera reports a judge at the UN-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has set March 25, 2013 as the tentative date to start the trial in absentia of four suspects.  The court said that any developments such as the arrest of murder suspects could further delay the date.  Hariri, one of Lebanon’s most powerful Sunni leaders, was killed along with twenty-two others in a truck bomb blast on February 14, 2005.  The UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon has indicted four members of Hezbollah, the Shia extremist group which now holds a majority in Lebanon’s cabinet.  Hezbollah denies involvement and has refused to extradite the suspects.