SHOTLIST

April 4, 2007

1. Street traffic in Beirut

2. Wide of Newspaper stand

3. Tilt down of newspapers

4. Newspaper headline reading: (in Arabic) "70 lawmakers place procedure to form tribunal in the hands of the United Nations: avoiding Chapter 7 is still possible"

April 3, 2007

5. Saad Hariri, leader of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority and son of the slain leader, Rafik Hariri, delivering the memorandum to Geir Pederson, the UN representative in Lebanon ++MUTE++

6. Lebanese members of parliament at meeting ++MUTE++

7. Wide of meeting ++MUTE++

April 4, 2007

8. Exterior of Prime Minister's office building

9. Close-up of Lebanese flag

10. Youth and Sport Minister Ahmad Fatfat

11. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Ahmad Fatfat, Minister of Youth and Sports:

"We proceeded to the United Nations after the failure of all internal constitutional attempts due to obstacles placed along the way by certain elements (in government). That is why we look to the United Nations to implement the resolutions."

April 3, 2007

12. Exterior of Parliament building

13. Members of parliament gathered in parliament hall

14. Camera operators

15. Wide of members of parliament

April 4, 2007

16. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Nawar Al-Sahili, Hezbollah Member of Parliament:

" This is dangerous move for all of Lebanon and it belittles the importance of the International tribunal. Instead of the tribunal being one that serves all the Lebanese people, one they all want and support, it is now a tribunal negotiated and imposed by a few Members of Parliament. Which makes it a political tribunal."

17. Image of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah leader, on calendar cover

STORYLINE:

Parliament's anti-Syrian majority has called on the UN to impose an international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri after the government failed to win opposition support for its creation drawing condemnation from the Hezbollah-led opposition.

The anti-Syrian coalition's call late on Tuesday on the world body to take "alternative measures" to approve the tribunal amounted to an invitation to the UN Security Council to independently establish it.

Saad Hariri, leader of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority and son of the slain leader, presented a memorandum to Geir Pederson, the UN representative in Lebanon, during a meeting late on Tuesday, demanding UN action to establish the tribunal in accordance with a draft agreement signed between the Lebanese government and the United Nations last year.

The memorandum, addressed to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, calls on the UN chief "to take all alternative measures under the UN Charter which ensure the establishment of the international tribunal which has been approved by the Security Council in order to achieve justice, strengthen national peace and protect world justice and peace," according to a statement issued by Hariri's office.

The memorandum accused pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a key opposition figure, of obstructing efforts to set up the tribunal, claiming Lahoud repeatedly refused to sign the tribunal draft agreement because he considered the government unconstitutional after the resignation of six ministers.

Ahmad Fatfat, the Lebanese Minister of Youth and Sports, said the decision to go through the United Nations was borne out of frustration.

" We proceeded to the United Nations after the failure of all internal constitutional attempts due to obstacles placed along the way by certain elements (in government). That is why we look to the United Nations to implement the resolutions," said Fatfat.

The move prompted a warning from Hezbollah that such international intervention threatens Lebanon's security and stability.

On Tuesday, Amal leader and Hezbollah ally, Speaker Nabih Berri locked out pro-government lawmakers from the chamber, refusing to call the legislature into session.

It was the third attempt in as many weeks by lawmakers from the anti-Syrian majority to try and force Berri to call a session.

But Hezbollah and its Pro-Syrian allies in parliament have declined, seeking instead to negotiate limits to the tribunal's mandate.

Nawar Al-Sahili, Hezbollah Member of Parliament, called the decision to go through the UN a

" dangerous move for all of Lebanon."

"Instead of the tribunal being one that serves all the Lebanese people, one they all want and support, it is now a tribunal negotiated and imposed by a few Members of Parliament. Which makes it a political tribunal," said Al-Sahili.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hussein Haj Hassan said in a telephone interview with LBC television, warned that the establishment of a tribunal by the UN with out the consent of the Lebanese parliament is considered international foreign intervention in the internal affairs which threatens the security and stability of Lebanon.

SHOTLIST

++NIGHT SHOTS++

1. Wide exterior of the Lebanese Parliament

2. Lebanese flag

++INTERIOR SHOTS++

3. Wide of the cabinet meeting

4. Close of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora

5. Various of cabinet meeting

6. Wide of media conference with Lebanese Information Minister, Ghazi Aridi

7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ghazi Aridi, Lebanese Information Minister:

"The Lebanese government believes that it is time for the Security Council to help to establish the International Tribunal and make it a reality. Therefore we are submitting our request to the Security Council and to put the Tribunal on track."

8. Cutaway cameramen

9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ghazi Aridi, Lebanese information minister

"The continuing delays (in regard to) the establishment of the (international) tribunal will have a negative affect on the stability in Lebanon, the achievement of justice, the credibility of the United Nations and the peace and security in the region."

10. Ghazi Aridi leaving media conference

STORYLINE

Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Saniora formally asked the UN Security Council on Monday to impose an international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Saniora sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon asking that the tribunal be established, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi told reporters.

"The Lebanese government believes that it is time for the Security Council to help to establish the International Tribunal and make it a reality. Therefore we are submitting our request to the Security Council and to put the Tribunal on track," added Aridi.

He said the continuing delays in establishing the international tribunal was having, "a negative affect on the stability in Lebanon, the achievement of justice, the credibility of the United Nations and the peace and security in the region".

The request follows Saniora's failure to win opposition support for the international court.

Saniora's move, which effectively bypasses the divided legislature, is bound to further deepen a fierce power struggle between the prime minister's Western-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition.

The issue of an international tribunal that would try suspects in the 2005 assassination of Hariri has sharply polarised Lebanon.

It is at the core of a deep political crisis between the government and opposition groups - a conflict that has taken on an increasingly sectarian tone and erupted into street battles, killing 11 people in recent months.

Saniora's letter to Ban is the second in recent weeks.

On April 10, Saniora sent a letter to Ban asking the Security Council "to study alternative means and ways that will lead, without any delay, to the creation of the tribunal".

In that letter, he also accused the opposition-ally Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri of "paralyzing" the assembly because he refused to convene a session to ratify the tribunal.

Also last month, 70 of parliament's 128 members sent a memorandum to Ban demanding UN action to establish the tribunal.

In his letter of Monday, Saniora again blamed Berri for parliament's failure to ratify the tribunal.

"For all practical purposes the domestic route to ratification had reached a dead end, with no prospect for a meeting of parliament to complete formal ratification," Saniora said in his letter written in English, a copy of which was faxed to The Associated Press.

SHOTLIST

1. Arrival of convoy with Alexander Sultanov, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister

2. Sultanov walking with officials

3. Pan from cameramen and photographers to Sultanov and Fawzi Salloukh, former Lebanese Foreign Minister

4. Mid of Sultanov

5. Mid of Salloukh

6. Wide of meeting

7. Cutaway cameramen

8. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic), Alexander Sultanov, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister:

"We discussed the international tribunal and other internal affairs. We agreed on the continuation of national dialogue, a dialogue of all the problems in Lebanon, because dialogue is the only way to save the national consensus and unity."

9. Cameramen

10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Fawzi Salloukh, former Lebanese Foreign Minister:

"Russia will take all necessary action to help and support in finding a solution to the problem."

11. Convoy leaving

12. Presidential palace

13. Sultanov at meeting with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud

14. Mid of Lahoud

15. Mid of Sultanov

16. Exterior, Prime Minister's office building

17. Lebanese flag

18. Various of meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora

19. Exterior of Ein El-Tineh Palace

20. Various of meeting with parliament speaker, Nabih Berri

STORYLINE:

Envoys from Russia and the UN were involved in Beirut on Tuesday in what may be a last-ditch attempt to win approval from Lebanon's opposing camps for an international tribunal into the assassination of Lebanon's prime minister, Rafik Hariri, a subject that's divided Lebanese opinion and which threatens the country's stability.

The parliament has put off approving a draft agreement with the United Nations, paralyzed by a political crisis between the government, which wants a multi-national tribunal to prosecute suspects in the 2005 assassination, and the Hezbollah-led opposition, which wants more discussion first.

The Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and the parliamentary majority have asked the United Nations to impose the Hariri tribunal and bypass the Lebanese legislature but opposition leaders have warned that such intervention could spell more trouble for the country.

Clashes over the issue have already caused nine deaths.

Opposition campaigners have been camping outside Saniora's office since December, 2006, paralyzing large parts of the capital's commercial district to demand his resignation but Saniora has refused to step down.

Russia's deputy foreign minister, Alexander Sultanov arrived for talks in Beirut with various Lebanese officials and the former Lebanese foreign minister Fawzi Salloukh.

Sultanov said that Russia was eager to help find a compromise, not impose a solution, stressing that the Lebanese need to find consensus through dialogue.

"We discussed the international tribunal," he said. "We agreed upon the continuation of the national dialogue, a dialogue of all the problems in Lebanon, because dialogue is the only way to save the national consensus and unity."

Fawzi Salloukh, who resigned as Lebanon's foreign minister, said that Russia would do what is necessary to help and support in finding a solution to the problem.

Russia, with a veto on UN Security Council resolutions, has enjoyed good relations with Lebanon and Syria, which has been widely accused of involvement in the assassination.

Sultanov also met with Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud, Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. He is then expected to travel to Syria, which remains an important player despite the withdrawal of its army from Lebanon in the wake of Hariri's assassination.

Along with Sultanov, the top UN legal chief Nicolas Michel was flying in later Tuesday to Beirut to help overcome the impasse.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, is scheduled to visit Syria next week, after a trip to Lebanon in March.

The anti-Syrian majority in Parliament blames Damascus for killing Hariri, an accusation Syria vehemently denies, and say the Syrians were using their Lebanese allies to undermine the formation of the tribunal.

SHOTLIST

1. Aircraft taxiing on runway

2. Wide of United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stepping down from aircraft

3. Tracking shot of Ban and resigned foreign minister Fawzi Salloukh walking, then shaking hands for photographers

4. Ban walking to microphones

5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary-General:

"The election of a new president should take place on time and in accordance with constitutional procedures. In this endeavour it is imperative that the parliament convenes in order to elect the new president. This president must be committed to TAIF reconciliation accord, the constitution and international legitimacy."

6. Cutaway of cameras

7. Ban leaving new conference

++NIGHT SHOTS++

8. Pan of Lebanese Parliament Speaker's residence, barriers and security at the entrance

9. Wide of meeting between Ban and Lebanese Parliament speaker Nabih Berri

10. Mid of Ban

11. Mid of Berri

12. Pull out from mid of delegates to wid of meeting

13. Cutaway of photographer

14. Ban and leader of parliamentary majority Saad Hariri shaking hands then walking into meeting room

15. Wide of meeting

16. Mid of Hariri

17. Mid of Ban

18. Various shots of meeting

19. Exterior of Lebanese Prime Minister's office building

20. Ban getting out of car, being greeted by officials as he goes up the steps

21. Wide of meeting between Ban and Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora

22. Mid of Ban

23. Mid of Saniora

24. Wide of meeting

STORYLINE

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday urged Lebanon's deeply divided politicians to elect a new president with the "broadest possible acceptance" by the public, and to do it on schedule, as he tried to help break the deadlock over the crucial vote.

Ban launched the latest attempt by international officials to prod the country's feuding factions to agree on a candidate for the top post and avoid a dangerous power vacuum.

His visit comes a week before parliament is to convene for another try to elect a president.

Parliament is supposed to pick a new president before the term of current President Emile Lahoud ends on November 24.

But the Western-backed ruling coalition and the Hezbollah-led opposition have been unable to agree on a candidate, sparking Lebanon's most serious political crisis since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.

He met with Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri who is one of the opposition figures.

The pro-Syrian opposition has been preventing the anti-Syrian majority from pushing through a candidate by refusing to attend parliament sessions until a compromise is reached.

The coalition is eager to put one of its own in place to replace Lahoud, a close ally of Damascus.

Three parliament attempts to hold a vote have failed since September, and the legislature is to try again on November 21.

"The election of the new president should take place on time and in accordance with constitutional procedures," Ban said. "In this endeavor, it

is imperative that the parliament convenes in order to elect a new president."

After arriving in Beirut on Thursday, Ban met first with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who is aligned with the opposition, and with legislator

Saad Hariri, leader of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority.

He later met with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, whose government has been locked for the past year in a fierce power struggle with the opposition led by the Hezbollah group, which is backed by Syria and Iran.

A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations, said Saniora and Ban discussed the presidential

election, Israel's reconnaissance flights over Lebanon and the need to speed up an international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Failure to elect the next president could result in a power vacuum and possibly, in the formation of two rival administrations.

Ban was also to meet Friday with Hezbollah officials and Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, the head of the influential Maronite Catholic Church.

Under Lebanon's political system, the president must be Maronite, the country's largest Christian sect.

The church fears a power vacuum could threaten the Maronites' hold on the post.

SHOTLIST:

AP TELEVISION

1. Wide of Army checkpoint in front of residence used by United Nations Secretary General

2. Army Armoured Personnel Vehicle (APV) guarding residence

3. Close- up of UN flag

4. UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon's convoy heading to Ain el-Tineh (Residence of Lebanese Parliament Speaker)

5. Convoy entering Ain El-Tineh

6. Ban in arrival ceremony

7. Members of military standing in line along red carpet

8. Ban shaking hands with Nabih Berri, Lebanese Parliament Speaker

9. Close-up of Berri

10. Various of meeting between Ban and Berri

12. Reporters in meeting room

13. SOUNDBITE: (English) Ban Ki-Moon, United Nations Secretary General:

"I also discussed with the speaker as I mentioned, the issue of a special tribunal and emphasised my commitment to the establishment of that tribunal for Lebanon as soon as possible."

14. Exterior of Lebanese Prime Minister's office

15. Ban arriving at Lebanese Prime Minister's office, welcomed by Tarik Mitri, acting Foreign Minister

16. Wide of meeting

17. Close-up of Ban

18. Close-up of Fuad Saniora, Prime Minister

19. Wide of Coral Beach, Hotel and Resort

POOL

20. Saad Hariri, Head of future Movement and Member of Parliament walking.

21. Hariri and Ban shaking hands

22. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Saad Hariri, Head of future Movement and Member of Parliament:

"Committing crimes in this manner without the punishment of the murderers is like licensing them to kill, so the United Nations is following up the establishment of the tribunal".

23. Ban shaking hands with Walid Jumblatt, senior Druse leader; Marwan Hamadeh, Communications Minister; Ghazi Aridi, Information Minister.

AP TELEVISION

24. Tilt down of residence used by Ban

25. Convoy leaving

STORYLINE:

The United Nations Secretary General on Friday called for the full implementation of a United Nations Security Council resolution that ended last summer's war between Lebanon and Israel.

Ban Ki-Moon also urged rival Lebanese leaders to engage in dialogue as the only way to end a deepening political crisis and approve an international court to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.

He met separately with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who hails from opposition ranks aligned with Hezbollah and with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, who is backed by the parliamentary majority.

"I also discussed with the speaker as I mentioned, the issue of a special tribunal and emphasised my commitment to the establishment of that tribunal for Lebanon as soon as possible," said Ban at a briefing after his meeting with Berri.

He was also to meet later on Friday with U.N. peacekeeping officials and Lebanese military and police commanders.

Ban met with Rafik Hariri's son, Saad, who heads the pro-government parliamentary majority in Lebanon.

They discussed the establishment of the tribunal that may try the suspects involved in the assassination of his father.

"Committing crimes in this manner without the punishment of the murderers is like licensing them to kill, so the United Nations is following up the establishment of the tribunal," said Saad Hariri after his meeting with Ban.

Ban also met with senior Druse leader, Walid Jumblatt.

On Saturday, Ban is to travel to the south Lebanon border area to visit with U.N. troops stationed in the south, near the border with Israel.

Ban has criticised both Israel and Lebanon for violating Resolution 1701, noting an increase of Israeli military overflights of its northern neighbour in February and early March.

The resolution also calls for a halt in arms shipments to Hezbollah, and demands the "unconditional release" of two Israeli soldiers Hezbollah captured in a cross-border raid.

The incident triggered last summer's 34-day war that ended with a 14 August ceasefire.

Hezbollah has refused to release the soldiers without negotiations to trade them for Arabs held by Israel.

The resolution also provided for the deployment of a reinforced U.N. peacekeeping force, now numbering close to 13-thousand.

Ban arrived Thursday in Beirut from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he attended a summit of Arab leaders.

His tour of the Middle East has already taken him to Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide of Prime Minister's office building

2. Lebanese flag flying

3. Various of European Parliament delegation meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora

3. Delegation walking

4 . SOUNDBITE: (French) Veronique De Keyser, Head of European Parliament delegation:

"We are here to assess the destruction that took place last summer, so for the first time we have been to the south of the country and met with our UNIFIL troops."

5. Cutaway of cameras

6. SOUNDBITE: (French) Veronique De Keyser, Head of European Parliament delegation:

"We are concerned because we think that internal struggles could put democracy in danger. Democracy can be endangered in thousands of ways, it can be because people are worried to express themselves, because people are afraid of being killed, and for the assassinations that you have seen and suffered, there must be justice. It is not our duty as the European Parliamentarians to define justice - should there be an international tribunal under chapter six or seven, that question it is not our problem. The problem is that we as Europeans and the Lebanese think that this country must achieve justice rather than foster a culture of impunity."

7. Delegation leaving Prime Minister's office building

8. Convoy leaving

STORYLINE:

The head of a European Parliament delegation visiting Lebanon on Saturday said there was concern that internal struggles "could put democracy in danger" and urged the country to strive for "justice."

"Democracy can be endangered in thousands of ways, it can be because people are worried to express themselves, because people are afraid of being killed, and for the assassinations that you have seen and suffered, there must be justice," Veronique De Keyser said.

De Keyser spoke after the delegation met Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora in Beirut.

Lebanon has as been paralysed since November by a power struggle pitting Western-backed Saniora, who is supported by many Sunni Muslims, against the opposition, led by the Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah.

The sectarian tensions have been brewing since the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005.

On Friday, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced he was sending the U.N. legal chief to Beirut to try to break an impasse

and get Lebanese government approval for an international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the assassination.

Lebanon's pro-Syrian Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has refused to convene parliament to ratify the tribunal.

"It is not our duty as the European Parliamentarians to define justice - should there be an international tribunal under chapter six or seven, that question it is not our problem. The problem is that we as Europeans and the Lebanese think that this country must achieve justice rather than foster a culture of impunity," De Keyser said.

The delegation visited European UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) troop headquarters in South Lebanon on Friday, but the media was not authorised to cover their visit.

The European Parliament delegation is also expected to meet with other Lebanese politicians during their two day visit.