SHOTLIST

31 May 2007

1. Various of street traffic in Beirut

2. Various of people offering sweets and flowers to passers by - a traditional celebration custom in Lebanon

3. Newspaper stand

4. Newspapers

5. Newspaper headline reading: (English) "UN approves Hariri court"

6. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) No Name Given, Beirut Resident, Vox pop:

"We hope the international tribunal will be fair and seeking justice without a political agenda. And to put a stop to political assassinations."

7. People reading newspapers

8. Exterior of prime minister's office building

9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Ahmad Fatfat, Lebanese Youth and Sports Minister:

"We hope that this tribunal will put a final point for all political assassination in Lebanon but it needs the help and the support and the collaboration of the Syrian regime. We hope that they will do and if they will do it will be a new stage to a good relation, to restore the relation, between Lebanon and Syria. And also for Lebanese, for opposition in Lebanon, we say it will never be a political tool. It is really for all the Lebanese a victory and it will be to help Lebanon to consolidate its democracy and freedom."

10. Various of construction on road where Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated

11. Lebanese army forces providing security at site which has been closed since assassination

30 May 2007

12. Fireworks

13. People dancing in the streets

14. Car loaded with people chanting and waving flags

15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic), Saad Hariri, Son of the assassinated Prime minister Rafik Hariri:

"We are not demanding justice for the sake of revenge. We are demanding justice for the sake of accountability and for the sake of truth, which should be kept as a sacred trust in the conscience of all Lebanese. We should all participate in securing the International Tribunal to protect Lebanon."

16. Saad Hariri arriving at his father's grave

17. Mid shot of Saad Hariri praying at his father's grave

18. Wide of grave

STORYLINE

There was cautious optimism in Beirut on Thursday as supporters of assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri welcomed the United Nations Security Council vote to unilaterally establish an international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the slain leader's assassination.

"We hope the international tribunal will be fair and seeking justice without a political agenda. And to put a stop to political assassinations," said one Beirut resident.

Ahmad Fatfat, Lebanese Youth and Sports Minister welcomed the decision saying that he hoped the that the tribunal will put an end to all political assassination in Lebanon.

"But it needs the help and the support and the collaboration of the Syrian regime." he said, adding that if Syria chooses to cooperate with the tribunal "it will be a new stage to a good relation, to restore the relation, between Lebanon and Syria."

The slain leader's supporters danced in the streets on Wednesday following the announcement of the Un decision and his son, Saad Hariri, said the resolution was a turning point in Lebanon that would protect the country from further assassinations.

"We are not demanding justice for the sake of revenge. We are demanding justice for the sake of accountability and for the sake of truth, which should be kept as a sacred trust in the conscience of all Lebanese. We should all participate in securing the International Tribunal to protect Lebanon," Hariri said.

The vote on the resolution was 10-0 with five abstentions - Russia, China, South Africa, Indonesia and Qatar.

That was one more than the nine votes needed for passage.

The five countries that abstained objected to establishing the tribunal without approval of Lebanon's parliament and to putting the resolution under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter which deals with threats to international peace and allows militarily enforcement.

But none opposed the tribunal itself.

A UN investigation has implicated Syria in Hariri's assassination in 2005 when the Syrian army controlled Lebanon.

Syria has denied involvement.

The issue of an international tribunal has since fuelled a deep political conflict between Saniora's Western-backed government and the Syrian-backed, Hezbollah-led opposition.

The conflict has taken on an increasingly sectarian tone and erupted into street battles, killing 11 people in recent months.

Hariri's assassination sparked huge protests against Syria, which was widely seen as culpable. Syria denied involvement but was forced to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, ending a 29-year presence.

The initial UN investigator said the complexity of Hariri's assassination suggested the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services played a role, but the probe is continuing.

Four Lebanese generals, top pro-Syrian security chiefs, have been under arrest for 20 months, accused of involvement in Hariri's murder.

SHOTLIST:

1. Various of fireworks

2. People dancing in the streets

3. Car passing with Lebanese flag

4. Candles on the streets of Beirut

5. Car loaded with people chanting and waving flags

6. Various of fireworks

7. Various of people watching television and cheering

8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic), Saad Hariri, Son of the assassinated Prime minister Rafik Hariri:

"We are not demanding justice for revenge. We are demanding it for punishment and for the truth, which should be kept as a trust in the conscience of all the Lebanese. We should all participate in securing the International Tribunal to save Lebanon."

9. Various of people chanting slogans pro Hariri

10. Saad Hariri arriving at his father's grave

11. Mid of Saad Hariri praying

12. Mid of grave

13. Exterior of prime minister's office building

14. Lebanese Fuad Saniora heading towards the podium

15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fuad Saniora, Lebanese prime minister:

"The ratification of the International Tribunal does not and should not be considered as a victory for one party over another Lebanese party. It is not a victory for one group over another, it is a victory for Lebanon and for all the Lebanese."

16. Mid of Lebanese flags

STORYLINE

Supporters of murdered former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri were celebrating on Wednesday night, as the United Nations (UN) Security Council voted to establish an international tribunal to prosecute suspects in his killing.

Beirut residents took on the streets of the capital dancing and chanting, while fireworks lit up the skyline.

In a televised speech Saad Hariri, the son of Rafik and leader of the majority group in the Lebanese parliament, said he was not looking for revenge, for his father's death, but for the truth.

"We are not demanding justice for revenge. We are demanding it for punishment and for the truth which should be kept as a trust in the conscience of all the Lebanese. We should all participate in securing the International Tribunal to save Lebanon."

After his speech Saad Hariri went to visit his father's grave.

Hundreds of supporters were also at the graveside chanting pro-Hariri slogans.

The Lebanese prime minister Fuad Saniora said the ratification of the International Tribunal should not be considered as a victory for one party over another.

"It is not a victory for one group over another it is a victory for Lebanon and for all the Lebanese," he said.

Saniora asked the Security Council earlier this month to establish the tribunal, citing the refusal of opposition-aligned Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to convene a session to ratify the statutes to create the tribunal, which have already been approved by his government and the United Nations.

The issue of an international tribunal has since fuelled a deep political conflict between Saniora's Western-backed government and the Syrian-backed, Hezbollah-led opposition.

The conflict has taken on an increasingly sectarian tone and erupted into street battles, killing 11 people in recent months.

The UN resolution gives Lebanon's parliament a last chance to establish the tribunal itself.

If it does not act by June 10, the UN-Lebanon agreement will automatically "enter into force," creating a tribunal outside Lebanon with a majority of international judges and an international prosecutor.

Council diplomats said this could take a year.

Hariri and 22 others were killed by a massive truck bombing in Beirut on February 14, 2005 and the UN Security Council authorised a commission to investigate the assassinations.

A 2005 report by a former chief investigator implicated Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services in Hariri's assassination.

Syria denied any involvement but was forced to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, ending a 29-year presence.

Four pro-Syrian Lebanese generals, accused of involvement in Hariri's murder, have been under arrest for 15 months.

SHOTLIST:

Beirut - 30 June 2011

++16:9++

1. Wide exterior of Justice Palace

2. Mid of Justice Palace sign

3. Mid of media outside the Justice Palace

4. Set up of Future Movement bloc Member of Parliament, Atef Majdalani

5. Photograph of Majdalani with Saad Hariri, son of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri

6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Atef Majdalani, Future Movement bloc MP:

"We consider the release of the indictment today is part of our martyr's rights, and this indictment is the first step to achieve the truth then justice in order to stabilise Lebanon."

FILE: Beirut - 14 February 2005

++4:3++

7. Various of explosion site where Rafik Hariri was killed

FILE: Beirut - 2004

++4:3++

8. Various of Rafik Hariri giving a speech

STORYLINE:

A U.N.-backed court investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri delivered an indictment and four arrest warrants Thursday, the latest turn in a case that has transformed this Arab nation and brought down the government earlier this year.

The names of the accused were not released, but the court has been expected to accuse members of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Many fear that could lead to street protests and plunge the violence-wracked

country back into a new crisis.

The long-awaited indictment was confirmed by the office of Hariri's son, Saad.

According to tribunal rules, Lebanese authorities now have 30 days to serve the indictments on suspects or execute arrest warrants. If they fail, the court can then order the indictment published and advertised in local media.

Saad Hariri also served as Lebanon's prime minister. But he was forced from office in January, when Hezbollah and its allies toppled his government in a conflict over the tribunal.

The group, which is also backed by Syria, fiercely denies any role in the killing and says the tribunal is a conspiracy by Israel and the United

States.

The dispute over the investigation encapsulates Lebanon's most explosive conflicts: the role of Hezbollah, the country's most powerful political and military force; the country's dark history of sectarian divisions and violence; and Lebanon's fraught relationship with neighbouring Syria.

Rafik Hariri was killed along with 22 other people in a massive truck bombing along Beirut's waterfront on February 14, 2005.

The indictment raises concerns of a possible resurgence of violence that has blighted this tiny Arab country of four million people for years, including a devastating 1975-1990 civil war and sectarian battles between Sunnis and Shiites in 2008.

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:

1. Exterior of Lebanese parliament building

2. Lebanese security forces

3. Arrival of Prime Minister, Fuad Saniora

4. Arrival of Druze leader, Walid Jumblatt

5. Pan of round table talks

6. Medium shot of speaker of the house, Nabih Berri

7. Medium of Saad Hariri and General Michel Aoun

8. Medium of Hezbollah MP, Mohammad Raad

9. Wide of round table talks

10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Samir Geagea, Leader of Christian group Lebanese Forces:

"We have not achieved any progress and speaker of the house, Berri, is travelling. I do not know who is trying to spread fear and panic for what is going to happen on Monday. Nothing is going to happen and we have not reached any agreement."

11. Michel Aoun heading to the podium

12. SOUNDBITE(Arabic), Michel Aoun, Head of Free National movement:

"The session was adjourned without assigning a new date for another round of talks."

13. Aoun leaving

STORYLINE:

Rival Lebanese politicians failed to reach agreement when they returned to the negotiating table on Saturday, a day after the government received a draft document setting up an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Politicians emerged from the meeting, with some saying the talks failed to achieve a breakthrough.

In a sign of worsening tensions, Christian leader Michel Aoun said the talks had failed to produce an agreement and that no date for another round of talks was set.

Christian politician Samir Geagea acknowledged the talks had failed to reach any agreement but suggested the talks would resume at a later stage.

He said the meeting was stopped partly because House Speaker Nabih Berri was scheduled to leave to travel to Iran.

"We have not achieved any progress and Speaker of the House, Berri is travelling. I do not know who is trying to spread fear and panic for what is going to happen on Monday. Nothing is going to happen and we have not reached any agreement."

The handover of the draft document setting up an international tribunal to the Lebanese government on Friday figured high on the agenda of Saturday's meeting, the fourth this week aimed at solving differences between Lebanon's bickering politicians.

The stakes of the talks are high: the Iranian and Syrian-backed Hezbollah guerrilla group threatened protests that could bring down the government if its share in Cabinet portfolios is not increased.

Lebanese media reports have suggested the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority led by the late Hariri's son, Saad, would agree to give Hezbollah and its allies a larger share of the Cabinet and effective veto power over key decisions if the group and allied pro-Syrian factions endorse the draft for the tribunal.

But Hariri's allies denied that such a deal was on the table.

The anti-Syrian majority has accepted the principle of forming a national unity government but refuses to give Hezbollah and its allies the one-third of Cabinet posts that is effectively equivalent to veto power because Cabinet decisions require approval by two-thirds of the ministers.

They also want to discuss the fate of President Emile Lahoud, a staunch pro-Syrian who has rejected pro-government demands to step down.

Dozens of supporters of the former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, uncovered a giant billboard in Beirut on Thursday, just metres (yards) away from the site where Hairiri was killed in a huge bomb blast on February 14, 2005.

The sign, which reads "Time for Justice", was unveiled to coincide with the start of the trial into his assassination at the Hague.

A timer is mounted on top of the billboard to record how many days the tribunal will take.

"We hope that they will achieve the truth in this trial but there are no suspects (present), they are being tried in absentia," said Beirut Resident Mahmoud Najem.

The four main Hezbollah suspects behind the bombing are not at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) in The Netherlands, because they are yet to be arrested.

Hezbollah has denied any involvement in Hariri's assassination and has condemned the trial as a conspiracy by the US and Israel.

Hariri, who also held Saudi citizenship, was one of Lebanon's most influential Sunni leaders, with wide connections in the Arab world and international community.

Hezbollah, a Shiite group, is backed by Shiite Iran.

AP TELEVISION

1. Wide of people removing piece of cloth covering a billboard of former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri

2. Mid of billboard with a sign that reads (Arabic) "Time for Justice"

3. Close of clock showing number '1', counting the number of days the trial will take

4. Tilt-down from a billboard to people gathered around sign

5. Wide of people in a cafe watching TV

6. Close of TV showing blast scene

7. Mid pan of people watching TV in cafe

8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mahmoud Najem, Beirut Resident:

"We hope that they will achieve the truth in this trial but there are no suspects (present), they are being tried in absentia."

9. Wide of Beirut skyline

10. Mid of cars driving down a street

11. Tilt-down of newspaper stand

12. Close of newspaper reading (Arabic) "The Tribunal" and showing a photo of Hariri

13. Mid of man looking at newspaper stand

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. Wide shot of tents and protesters outside prime minister's (Fuad Saniora) office building

2. Mid shot of prime minister's office

3. Various of protesters in tents

4. Men playing dice

5. Wide shot of tents with the Mohammed al Amine mosque in background

6. Various of protesters and tents

7. Wide shot of courtyard inside prime minister's office

8. Fountain in courtyard

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

"There is a real crisis in the country that should be resolved. It should be solved through political dialogue about all topics, leaving aside the issue of the international tribunal because there has been a consensus about this tribunal, and consequently we should be all working for the establishment of this tribunal. We should then return to discussing all political issues and reach an agreement. We must reach an agreement, a compromise whereby every party in Lebanon should make the necessary concessions in the interests of the country."

10. Wide shot of courtyard

STORYLINE

The Lebanese Minister of Information said on Saturday there was a real crisis in the country that should be resolved through political dialogue, at the same time the government should be working towards the establishment of an international tribunal to try the alleged killers of former prime minister Rafik Hariri.

"We should then return to discussing all political issues and reach an agreement. We must reach an agreement, a compromise whereby every party in Lebanon should make the necessary concessions in the interests of the country," Ghazi Aridi added.

Lebanon's Cabinet headed by anti-Syrian Prime Minister Fuad Saniora sent the president a draft accord on Monday to establish a tribunal to try the alleged killers of Rafik Hariri.

But President Emile Lahoud, a pro-Syrian, is expected to decline to endorse the agreement, which would set up a UN backed court that would sit outside Lebanon.

The tribunal has become a weapon in the battle between Lebanon's Hezbollah-aligned factions, supported by Syria and Lebanon, and anti-Syrian parties over demands by Hezbollah and its allies for a third of the Cabinet's seats.

That would give them veto powers.

Aridi's comments came as thousands of Hezbollah supporters were camping out in tents as the Shiite Muslim guerrilla group and its allies kept up the pressure on the US-backed government to resign.

Hezbollah officials said their campaign, which has disrupted life in the capital's commercial district, will not stop until their demand for a national unity government is fulfilled.

But the government showed no sign of backing down in a confrontation that has the potential to turn violent and tear apart the country.

The street action has been largely peaceful so far.

SHOTLIST

1. Wide shot of tents and protesters outside Lebanese prime minister's (Fuad Saniora) office building

2. Mid shot of prime minister's office

3. Various of protesters in tents

4. Men playing dice

5. Wide shot of tents with the Mohammed al Amine mosque in background

6. Various of protesters and tents

7. Wide shot of courtyard inside prime minister's office

8. Fountain in courtyard

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

"There is a real crisis in the country that should be resolved. It should be solved through political dialogue about all topics, leaving aside the issue of the international tribunal because there has been a consensus about this tribunal, and consequently we should be all working for the establishment of this tribunal. We should then return to discussing all political issues and reach an agreement. We must reach an agreement, a compromise whereby every party in Lebanon should make the necessary concessions in the interests of the country."

10. Wide shot of courtyard

11. Exterior pan of protesters close to Saniora's offices

12. Mid of soldiers seated on army vehicles

13. Mid of Saniora speaking to journalists

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Fuad Saniora, Lebanese Prime Minister:

"I have a strong belief in the Lebanese. They have tried all attempts to solve problems in the past through violent ways, through non-peaceful means and it proved to be a failure, so we can't resort to violent ways. It doesn't solve the problem. In Lebanon it does not solve the problem. Don't let anybody waste his time, it will not lead to anything. We have to agree among each other on all the issues."

15. Protesters outside Saniora's offices

STORYLINE

The Lebanese Minister of Information said on Saturday there was a real crisis in the country that should be resolved through political dialogue, at the same time the government should be working towards the establishment of an international tribunal to try the alleged killers of former prime minister Rafik Hariri.

"We should then return to discussing all political issues and reach an agreement. We must reach an agreement, a compromise whereby every party in Lebanon should make the necessary concessions in the interests of the country," Ghazi Aridi added.

Lebanon's Cabinet, headed by anti-Syrian Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, sent the president a draft accord on Monday to establish a tribunal to try the alleged killers of Rafik Hariri.

But President Emile Lahoud, who is pro-Syrian, is expected to decline to endorse the agreement, which would set up a UN-backed court that would sit outside Lebanon.

The tribunal has become a weapon in the battle between on the one hand Lebanon's Hezbollah-aligned factions, supported by Syria, and on the other hand anti-Syrian parties, over demands by Hezbollah and its allies for a third of the Cabinet's seats.

That would give them veto powers.

Aridi's comments came as thousands of Hezbollah supporters camped out in tents in the capital, as the Shiite Muslim guerrilla group and its allies kept up the pressure on the US-backed Saniora government to resign.

Hezbollah officials said their campaign, which has disrupted life in the capital's commercial district, will not stop until their demand for a national unity government is fulfilled.

Barbed wire and armoured vehicles separated the demonstrators from government headquarters where Prime Minister Saniora and some of his ministers have hunkered down.

But the government has shown no sign of backing down in a confrontation that has the potential to turn violent and tear apart the country.

"They have tried all attempts to solve problems in the past through violent ways," Saniora said on Saturday. "Don't let anybody waste his time, it will not lead to anything. We have to agree among each other on all the issues."

So far the street action has remained largely peaceful.

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide of skyline

2. Traffic on street

3. Wide of newspaper stand

4. Newspaper headline reading in English: "UN signs deal on Hariri court, raising pressure for ratification"

5. Tilt down on newspapers

6. People reading newspapers

7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Farouk Fehmi, Vox pop:

"I support the international tribunal if it reveals those who killed Prime Minister (Rafik) Hariri, but if it is going to be politically biased I am against it."

8. Policeman directing traffic

9. Set up shot of Lebanese Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Marwan Hamadeh, Minister of Telecommunications:

"I think it is a very important victory for Lebanon, for its legitimate government and especially for international justice and I think it paves the way for the ratification of the convention and the establishment of the international tribunal."

11. Cutaway of hands

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Marwan Hamadeh, Minister of Telecommunications:

"If, by force or by any other means, the opposition prevents it we will go back to the UN (United Nations) Security Council to have it adopted under Chapter Seven."

13. Wide pan of protesters' tents in downtown Beirut

14. Various exteriors of Lebanese prime minister's office, surrounded by barbed wire

STORYLINE:

Some Lebanese residents on Wednesday welcomed the signing of an agreement by the United Nations to set up an international tribunal to prosecute the suspected killers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Last week, Saniora sent a signed copy of the agreement for creating the court to the United Nations. U.N. Undersecretary-General for Legal Affairs Nicolas Michel signed the agreement in New York on Tuesday and returned it to Lebanon for ratification.

"UN signs deal on Hariri court, raising pressure for ratification," hailed the headline in the Lebanese newspaper "The Daily Star".

The tribunal aims to try suspects in the February 14, 2005, assassination of Hariri, who was killed along with 22 other people in a massive truck bomb in downtown Beirut.

Many in Lebanon suspect Syria was behind the killings. Syria has denied involvement.

The tribunal has become a major point of contention in Lebanon's power struggle between the anti-Syrian government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, which supports the creation of the UN-backed court, and pro-Syrian factions, including the Shiite Hezbollah movement.

One resident, Farouk Fehmi, was apprehensive about giving the tribunal his full support.

"I support the international tribunal if it reveals those who killed Prime Minister Hariri, but if it is going to be politically biased I am against it," he said.

Lebanese Minister of Telecommunications Marwan Hamadeh said that the agreement was "a very important victory for Lebanon, for its legitimate government and specially for international justice".

"If, by force or by any means, the opposition prevents it (the formation of the international tribunal) we will go back to the UN Security Council to have it adopted under Chapter Seven," Hamadeh added.

Under Chapter Seven the UN Security Council has broader power to decide what measures are to be taken in situations involving "threats to the peace, breaches of the peace, or acts of aggression".

In such situations, the Council is not limited to recommendations but may take action, including the use of armed force "to maintain or restore international peace and security".

In November, Hezbollah and its allies quit the Cabinet as it was moving to approve the tribunal after Saniora rejected their demand for a new national unity government which would give their camp veto power over major government decisions.

The Hezbollah-led opposition has staged a campaign of protests for the past two months aiming to bring down Saniora's government and replace it with one in which they would hold one-third plus one of the seats, allowing them to veto major decisions.

Hezbollah, which is worried the tribunal will be politicised and used against it, says the government should not consider the tribunal until such a government is formed.

The protests turned violent in January when eight people were killed in clashes between opposition and government supporters, raising fears that the political crisis could once again push Lebanon into civil war.

The fate of the tribunal now rests with the Lebanese, with ratification requiring a vote in Parliament.

Ratification requires a vote from Parliament, but Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri - a Hezbollah ally - has refused to convene the legislature, where it would be brought to a vote.

SHOTLIST

++NIGHT SHOTS++

1. Exterior shot of Prime Minister's office in Beirut

2. Mid shot of Lebanese soldiers and armoured vehicle in position around Prime Minister's office

3. Mid shot of Lebanese soldiers

4. Wide shot of Lebanese soldiers and armoured vehicle

5. Wide shot of Prime Minister's office

6. Wide shot of Lebanese cabinet meeting

7. Mid shot of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora sitting at head of meeting

8. Mid shot of picture of murdered Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel placed in his position around meeting table

9. Various of cabinet ministers around table

10. Mid shot of picture of murdered Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel

11. Cameras

12. Mid shot of Lebanese Minister of Information, Ghazi Aridi, at press conference

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

"(The cabinet) approved the creation of an international tribunal between Lebanon and the United Nations and authorised the Justice Minister to sign this agreement with the United Nations and also to send this approval to the Lebanese Parliament for authorisation.''

14. Cameras

STORYLINE

The Lebanese government on Saturday approved an international tribunal for suspects in the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri, despite warnings of mass protests by its opponent Hezbollah.

Last-ditch attempts to reach a compromise between the government and the pro-Syrian camp, led by Hezbollah, appeared to fail as the cabinet moved forward with its meeting for a UN created court.

The tribunal is a key bone of contention in the power struggle between allies and opponents of Syria in Lebanon.

Anti-Syrian forces - mainly Christian and Sunni Muslim - dominate the government, but are facing a campaign by the mainly Shiite pro-Syrian camp to bring the government down.

The political crisis became potentially explosive this week with the assassination of an anti-Syrian politician, raising worries of more violence that could tear apart the country's fragile sectarian seams.

The anti-Syrian bloc brought out some 800,000 people for a mass rally at the funeral of the politician, Pierre Gemayel, on Thursday.

Hezbollah has shown it can bring out similar numbers for its protests - and if it goes ahead with its threatened demonstrations, many fear it could start a spiral of street action.

Earlier on Saturday, two key anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians met with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah and a Syria supporter, in an apparent attempt to find a compromise.

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora offered to put off the contentious Cabinet vote for several days if six pro-Hezbollah ministers who quit the government earlier this month returned.

Hezbollah demands that the government be changed to give it and its allies more power, or else it says it will launch mass protests to topple Saniora.

But the reconciliation bid appeared to have failed, and the Cabinet meeting approved a UN draft for the tribunal.

In the eyes of Hezbollah, the approval of the tribunal amounts to a rejection of its demands for a greater representation in the Cabinet.

The Shiite militant group and Lebanon's pro-Syrian president, Emile Lahoud, have denounced the current government as unconstitutional, because the constitution underlines that the government must represent all of Lebanon's main communities.

"(The cabinet) approved the creation of an international tribunal between Lebanon and the United Nations and authorised the Justice Minister to sign this agreement with the United Nations and also to send this approval to the Lebanese Parliament for authorisation,'' Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said after the vote.

Aridi's statement went on to say that Prime Minister Saniora insisted the approval of the tribunal was not meant as a provocation against Hezbollah and its allies.

For opponents of Syria, the court is a major priority, and they hope it will uncover the truth behind the February 2005 assassination of Hariri in a massive bomb blast that killed 22 others, which they accuse Damascus of orchestrating. Syria has denied any role in the killing.

The court, which will sit outside Lebanon and have a majority of non-Lebanese judges, is to try four Lebanese generals - top pro-Syrian security chiefs under Lahoud including his Presidential Guard commander, who have been under arrest for 14 months, accused of involvement in

Hariri's murder.

The UN investigation into Hariri's death has also implicated Brigadier General Assaf Shawkat, Syria's military intelligence chief and the brother-in-law of Syrian President Bashar Assad. But Shawkat is not in custody.

Hariri's death was the first in a string of attacks that killed five other prominent anti-Syrian figures - with Gemayel the most recent, in a bold daytime shooting on Tuesday.

Many Lebanese blame Syria in all the killings, which Damascus denies.

Since Gemayel's assassination, some ministers in Saniora's Cabinet have moved into the heavily guarded prime minister's building in downtown Beirut, fearing more slayings.

SHOTLIST:

1. Exterior of Lebanese prime minister's office

2. Various of Lebanese army surrounding Prime Minister's office

3. Wide of Lebanese cabinet meeting headed by Saniora

4. Mid shot of Saniora at head of cabinet meeting

5. Mid shot photo of Pierre Gemayel, assassinated industry minister

6. Various of cabinet meeting

7. Close of photo of Pierre Gemayel

8. Cabinet meeting members standing for one minute of silence to pay their respects to Gemayel

STORYLINE:

Lebanon's US-backed government on Saturday approved the creation of an international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of a former prime minister despite objections by Hezbollah and the country's pro-Syrian president.

The move is likely to further deepen the country's political crisis and spark the mass street demonstrations already threatened by Syrian-backed Hezbollah and its allies to topple the government of prime minister Fuad Saniora.

On Friday, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah and parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri had issued a statement demanding a veto wielding share of the cabinet.

Earlier this month six pro-Hezbollah government ministers resigned while, this week, the Christian industry minister Pierre Gemayel was assassinated.

Fuad Saniora, the Lebanese prime minister, said Saturday he was willing to postpone the cabinet meeting to approve the tribunal "for a few days" if the six ministers would return to the government.

The meeting went ahead as scheduled.

An ongoing UN investigation into the February 2005 truck bombing that killed former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others has said the killing's complexity suggests the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services played a role in the assassination.

Damascus has denied having any role in the killing but, having dominated Lebanon for nearly three decades, was forced to withdraw its troops.

The power struggle since, between rival factions, intensified earlier this year as a result of a 34-day war waged by Hezbollah against Israel.

In October, Nasrallah began threatening mass protests unless Hezbollah's demand for a national unity government was met.

Now, in the wake of Gemayel's assassination earlier this week, some cabinet ministers are taking shelter in government headquarters in downtown Beirut.

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide of Saad Hariri, Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister entering news conference UPSOUND: Applause

2. Cutaway of media

3. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Saad Hariri, Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister:

++CAMERA PULLS OUT AND ZOOMS IN DURING BITE++

"We will go to the consultations and we will give our opinion while committed to my nomination for the prime minister's post, which is supported by the Future movement bloc and other allies."

4. Photographer

5. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Saad Hariri, Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister:

"Sedition will not be the required price for truth and justice."

6. Hariri at end of news conference, audience applauding

7. Various of Lebanese army convoy patrolling streets ++NIGHT SHOT++

8. Wide of office of Prime Minister++NIGHT SHOT++

STORYLINE:

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister said on Thursday that he will seek the post again, one week after the militant group Hezbollah toppled his government and sparked fears that the country's political crisis could descend into street battles.

Saad Hariri's Western-backed government fell last week over a dispute linked to a United Nations tribunal investigating the assassination of his father, former prime minister Rafik Hariri.

Many fear that Hezbollah - widely expected to be indicted by the court - will react violently if accused.

In a televised address, Hariri said he would continue efforts to solve the crisis diplomatically.

"We will go to the consultations and we will give our opinion while committed to my nomination for the prime minister's post, which is supported by the Future movement bloc and other allies", the 40-year-old said, speaking in front of a poster of his father, who was killed in a massive truck bombing along Beirut's waterfront in 2005.

The most recent talks, involving Qatar and Turkey, failed to reach a compromise.

Lebanese special police forces meanwhile tightened security around the government palace and other official buildings on Thursday amid growing fears that the country was headed toward violence.

A senior security official confirmed that the security measures in and around Beirut stem from "concerns of movements on the ground by some parties."

The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Special police forces were seen placing cement barriers around the government house in Beirut and putting up reinforcements around government buildings and banks.

Armoured personnel carriers were deployed to many areas of the city.

The new measures follow the departure from Beirut of Qatari and Turkish mediators after two days of talks that apparently failed to resolve the differences between Lebanon's main rival factions and bring them back together in a coalition government.

Hezbollah denies any role in Rafik Hariri's killing and forced the collapse of the government last week when Saad Hariri refused to renounce the tribunal and pull Lebanon's funding for the court.

The militant group says the tribunal is a conspiracy by Israel and the United States.

There are concerns that supporters of the group may take to the streets, setting the stage for sectarian fighting similar to Shiite-Sunni street clashes that killed 81 people in 2008.

Hariri was Lebanon's most prominent Sunni leader.

SHOTLIST:

1. Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri shaking hands with Prince Albert of Monaco

2. Wide shot of lunch meeting

3. Mid of Hariri and French Ambassador Denis Pietton

4. Prince Albert with the former Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora

5. Wide shot of lunch meeting

6. Pan from Saint George Church to Al-Amin mosque

7. Wide of churches and mosques

8. Close-up of cross

9. Tilt down of Al-Amin mosque

10. Wide shot of worshippers

11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sheikh Mohammad Chaaban:

"We are asking God to save you and us from all the apparent and the hidden seditions, and also to save our country from all the seditions."

12. Various of worshippers praying

STORYLINE:

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister returned home to Beirut on Friday, two days after a Hezbollah-led coalition toppled his Western-backed government.

Upon his arrival Saad Hariri met Prince Albert of Monaco, who is on a two-day visit to Lebanon.

Hariri has been trying to rally international support in the US, France and Turkey since ministers allied to the Shiite militant group resigned on Wednesday, bringing down his government.

He was meeting with US President Barack Obama on Wednesday when his government fell.

The crisis was the climax of long-simmering tensions over the UN tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of Hariri's father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The Imams of Friday prayer in Lebanon called upon all parties to remain calm and to maintain constructive dialogue.

The tribunal is widely expected to indict members of Hezbollah soon, which many fear could rekindle violence in the tiny nation plagued for decades by war and civil strife.

Hezbollah denounces the Netherlands-based tribunal as a conspiracy by the US and Israel.

It had demanded Hariri reject the tribunal's findings even before they came out, but Hariri has refused to break cooperation with the court and its investigations.

Hariri's office had no immediate comment on the outcome of his meetings abroad.

Turkish leaders were expected to propose holding an international conference to address the crisis and advise Hariri to try to seek a consensus with Hezbollah, private NTV television said Friday.

Hezbollah, already Lebanon's most potent military force, is now making a bid to expand its political power by installing an ally as prime minister.

Hezbollah's allies said it would be futile for Hariri to stay in the post, but politicians in the pro-Western coalition said there was no alternative to the 40-year-old billionaire Hariri, who remains the most popular choice among Sunni Muslims.

If Hezbollah succeeds, its patrons in Iran and Syria would have far more sway in the volatile corner of the Middle East - something Washington has worked to prevent.

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide of funeral

2. Wife of Walid Eido, assassinated legislator, waving from balcony

3. Women crying and waving

4. Ambulance covered by Lebanese flag and poster of Eido

5. Youths chanting slogans whilst travelling with ambulance

6. Wide of funeral

7. Mid of Saad Hariri, son of Rafik Hariri, the assassinated former Lebanese prime minister, walking along in procession

8. Wide of funeral procession

9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Walid Jumblatt, Druse politician:

"Syrian regime with their allies are trying to reduce our majority in the parliament. They have killed yesterday a prominent member of parliament. They can kill three more, if they kill three more members we will lose the majority and this is their calculation so that the government of Saniora will fall down."

10. Mid of Hezbollah MP bloc's flag

11. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Hussein Hajj Hassan, Hezbollah MP:

"We condemn the terror act which led to the killing of legislator Walid Eido, his son, two of his bodyguards and several Lebanese citizens. And we think that these crimes are taking place and are synchronised by the political exposure in the country. We think that the politicians are invited to find a political solution to the crisis in order to deal with all the disputed issues, as well as dealing with the security exposure. Some intelligence parties are getting benefits and committing these acts of terror and committing seditious acts against the Lebanese."

12. Tilt down of Al-Khachekji Mosque, mourners, security

13. Wide of funeral procession, coffin being carried

14. Various mid shots of coffins being carried to mosque

15. Top shot of three coffins inside the mosque (containing bodies of Walid Eido, his son, and one of the bodyguards killed)

16. Relatives kissing a coffin

17. Saad Hariri, leader of the anti-Syrian majority bloc, in parliament arriving at the mosque

18. Worshippers praying at funeral

19. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Saad Hariri, leader of the anti-Syrian majority bloc in parliament:

"No one should think that this people will kneel and be frightened. I tell the criminals: you will be punished and you will be dragged to prisons and will face justice, God willing."

20. Body being lowered into grave

21. Eido's son crying

22. Another body being lowered into grave

23. Wide pan of cemetery

STORYLINE:

Tens of thousands of mourners bade farewell on Thursday to victims of a powerful car bombing in Beirut that killed a prominent anti-Syrian legislator and nine others as the Lebanese government - reeling from another blow targeting its supporters - sought international help.

A bomb ripped through Walid Eido's car on Wednesday as he drove from a seaside sports club, also killing his 35-year-old son, two bodyguards and six passers-by.

Thursday's funeral procession swelled to tens of thousands of mourners who escorted coffins carrying the bodies of Eido, his son and one of the bodyguards killed.

The mourners followed ambulances covered with Lebanese flags that drove from the American University Hospital in West Beirut to a mosque at the Shohada Cemetery several kilometres (miles) away for a prayer service and internment.

It drove down the main thoroughfare of Corniche Mazraa in the Muslim sector of the capital, where pictures of the assassinated politicians were posted on walls and overpasses and Eido's widow waved to the crowds from a balcony.

Saad Hariri, leader of the anti-Syrian majority bloc in parliament to which Eido belonged, Druse politician Walid Jumblatt and other prominent anti-Syrian leaders also marched in the procession.

Jumblatt, an anti-Syrian MP, said that if the Syrian regime killed three more MPs, "we will lose the majority and this is their calculation so that the government of Saniora will fall down."

One Hezbollah MP, whose party is pro-Syrian, also condemned the killings.

"Some intelligence parties are getting benefits and committing these acts of terror and acting seditiously against the Lebanese," Hussein Hajj Hassan said.

At the Al-Khachekji mosque, male relatives sobbed and bent to kiss the coffins laid next to one another.

The spiritual leader of Lebanon's Sunni Muslims, Grand Mufti of the Republic Sheik Mohammed Rashid Kabbani, led the prayers, with Saad Hariri, son of assassinated former prime minister Rafik Hariri, at his side.

Saad Hariri said Lebanon would not kneel before the killers and promised they would be brought to justice.

"No one should think that this people will kneel and be frightened," he said. "I tell the criminals, you will be punished and you will be dragged to prisons and will face justice, God willing."

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora has called for an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers and the international community to assist in the investigation of Eido's assassination.

The blast that killed Eido was a new blow to the stability of an already conflict-torn nation.

It came just three days after the government, together with the United Nations, started putting together an international tribunal ordered by the UN Security Council to try suspects in the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut two years ago - a move strongly opposed by Syria and its allies in Lebanon.

Eido was a prominent supporter of the tribunal, a staunch follower of Hariri and the seventh anti-Syrian figure killed in Lebanon in the past two years.

Many in Lebanon have accused Syria of being behind the killings, a claim Damascus denies.

Lebanon's majority coalition blamed Syria for Wednesday's assassination.

Syria controlled Lebanon for 29 years until it was forced out after Hariri's assassination, and its Lebanese opponents believe it is seeking to regain domination by plunging the country into chaos.

Businesses, schools and government offices were closed on Thursday after the government declared a day of national mourning.

The killings were likely to further enflame Lebanon's bitter power struggle between Saniora's Western-backed government and its Syrian-backed opponents, led by the Hezbollah militant group.

As the fighting in the north, pitting the Lebanese Army against Palestinian militants, with Palestinian refugees under siege, continues, many fear the violence there and in Beirut could push the polarised nation, with a fragile balance of ethnic and religious groups, into a new civil war.

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide exterior of Prime Ministers' office

2. Close-up of Lebanese flag

3. Wide of Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati before news conference

4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Najib Mikati, Lebanese Prime Minister:

"After years of waiting, the International General Prosecutor issued an indictment and showed information that was gathered by the international investigations and accused members of being involved in the crime."

5. Cutaway Lebanese flag

6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Najib Mikati, Lebanese Prime Minister:

"We are today in front of a new reality that requests a wise approach and putting the supreme interest of the country, civil peace, our national unity and knowing the truth above all concerns. So we will deal with responsibility and reality with this incident, starting from that the accusations whatever its sources are not verdicts and the accusations need real and undoubted proves and any accused person is innocent until its accusation is proved."

7. Wide of news conference

STORYLINE:

Lebanon's prime minister Najib Mikati said national unity, peace and truth should trump all other concerns, after a United Nations-backed court investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri delivered an indictment and four arrest warrants on Thursday.

The UN tribunal's decision marks the latest turn in a case that has transformed this Arab nation and brought down the government earlier this year.

At a news conference in Beirut, Mikati said it demanded "a wise approach and putting the supreme interest of the country, civil peace, our national unity and knowing the truth above all concerns."

The names of the accused were not released, but a Lebanese official said at least one member of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah is among those indicted.

The official saw the arrest warrants that were issued on Thursday and gave the names to The Associated Press. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

One of the people named is Mustafa Badr-Eddine, believed to have been Hezbollah's deputy military commander.

He is the brother-in-law of the late Hezbollah military commander Imad Mughniyeh.

Many fear the indictment of Hezbollah members could lead to street protests and plunge the violence-wracked country back into a new crisis.

The long-awaited indictment was confirmed by the office of Hariri's son, Saad.

According to tribunal rules, Lebanese authorities now have 30 days to serve the indictments on suspects or execute arrest warrants.

If they fail, the court can then order the indictment published and advertised in local media.

Saad Hariri also served as Lebanon's prime minister, but he was forced from office in January, when Hezbollah and its allies toppled his government in a conflict over the tribunal.

The group, which is also backed by Syria, fiercely denies any role in the killing and says the tribunal is a conspiracy by Israel and the United States.

The dispute over the investigation encapsulates Lebanon's most explosive conflicts: the role of Hezbollah, the country's most powerful political and military force; the country's dark history of sectarian divisions and violence; and Lebanon's fraught relationship with neighbouring Syria.

Rafik Hariri was killed along with 22 other people in a massive truck bombing along Beirut's waterfront on February 14, 2005.

The indictment raises concerns of a possible resurgence of violence that has blighted this tiny Arab country of four million people for years, including a devastating 1975-1990 civil war and sectarian battles between Sunnis and Shiites in 2008.

SHOTLIST:

1. Tilt down of Al-Khachekji Mosque, mourners, security

2. Wide of funeral procession, coffin being carried

3. Various mid shots of coffins being carried to mosque

4. Top shot of three coffins inside the mosque (containing bodies of Walid Eido, his son, and one of the bodyguards killed)

5. Relatives kissing a coffin

6. Saad Hariri, leader of the anti-Syrian majority bloc, in parliament arriving at the mosque

7. Various of worshippers praying at funeral

8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Saad Hariri, leader of the anti-Syrian majority bloc in parliament:

"No one should think that this people will kneel and be frightened. I tell the criminals: you will be punished and you will be dragged to prisons and will face justice, God willing."

9. Body being lowered into grave

10. Eido's son crying

11. Another body being lowered into grave

12. Wide pan of cemetery

STORYLINE:

Tens of thousands of mourners bade farewell on Thursday to victims of a powerful car bombing in Beirut that killed a prominent anti-Syrian legislator and nine others as the Lebanese government - reeling from another blow targeting its supporters - sought international help.

A bomb ripped through Walid Eido's car on Wednesday as he drove from a seaside sports club, also killing his 35-year-old son, two bodyguards and six passers-by.

Thursday's funeral procession swelled to tens of thousands of mourners who escorted coffins carrying the bodies of Eido, his son and one of the bodyguards killed.

The mourners followed ambulances covered with Lebanese flags that drove from the American University Hospital in West Beirut to a mosque at the Shohada Cemetery several kilometers away for a prayer service and internment.

At the mosque, male relatives sobbed and bent to kiss the coffins laid next to one another.

The spiritual leader of Lebanon's Sunni Muslims, Grand Mufti of the Republic Sheik Mohammed Rashid Kabbani, led the prayers, with Saad Hariri, son of assassinated former prime minister Rafik Hariri, at his side.

Saad Hariri, leader of the anti-Syrian majority bloc in parliament to which Eido belonged, said Lebanon would not kneel before the killers and promised they would be brought to justice.

"No one should think that this people will kneel and be frightened," he said. "I tell the criminals, you will be punished and you will be dragged to prisons and will face justice, God willing."

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora has called for an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers and the international community to assist in the investigation of Eido's assassination.

The blast that killed Eido was a new blow to the stability of this conflict-torn nation.

It came just three days after the government, together with the United Nations, started putting together an international tribunal ordered by the U.N. Security Council to try suspects in the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut two years ago - a move strongly opposed by Syria and its allies in Lebanon.

Eido was a prominent supporter of the tribunal, a staunch follower of Hariri and the seventh anti-Syrian figure killed in Lebanon in the past two years.

Many in Lebanon have accused Syria of being behind the killings, a claim Damascus denies.

Lebanon's majority coalition blamed Syria for Wednesday's assassination.

Syria controlled Lebanon for 29 years until it was forced out after Hariri's assassination, and its Lebanese opponents believe it is seeking to regain domination by plunging the country into chaos.

SHOTLIST

1. Wide of meeting between Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Saniora (right) and parliament majority leader Saad Hariri

2. Hariri sat in blue suit

3. Hariri with Saniora

4. Wide of news conference

5. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Saad Hariri, parliament majority leader:

"Today what happened was an attempt to kill our soldiers and policemen. This is a blow to Lebanese security. The International Tribunal is coming. Nobody will stop it. There is a conspiracy that they are making right and left."

6. Press cutaway

7. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Saad Hariri, parliament majority leader:

"I don't think that there is any support for Fatah Al-Islam from any Lebanese political party and whoever supports them, let him announce it."

8. Hariri leaving news conference

STORYLINE:

Saad Hariri, head of Lebanon's largest Sunni political faction and leader of the country's parliamentary majority, urged supporters on Sunday to cooperate with authorities after renewed violence in northern Lebanon on Sunday.

The fighting between security forces and Fatah Islam militants left more than 30 people dead and threatens to further destabilise the country.

Lebanon is facing its worst political fall out between the Western-backed government and pro-Syrian opposition since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.

Street battles were fought in Tripoli on Sunday, a predominantly Sunni Muslim city, while guns pounded shells on a Fatah Islam stronghold located in a Palestinian refugee camp nearby.

Hariri, who met for talks with Prime Minister Fouad Saniora in Beirut, told reporters afterwards that the violence may have been linked to efforts to set up an international tribunal that would try the killers of his father, former Premier Rafik Hariri.

Hariri was assassinated in February 2005.

"This is a blow to Lebanese security. The International Tribunal is coming. Nobody will stop it," Hariri said.

SHOTLIST

1. Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani descending steps of plane, welcomed by Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri

2. Hariri and Al Thani walking away

3. Various of Hariri meeting Al Thani

4. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Lebanese counterpart Ali Chami walking

5. Wide of Photo op with Chami, Al Thani, Hariri and Davutoglu

6. Hariri and Davutoglu shaking hands

7. Exterior of the presidential palace

8. Lebanese President Michel Suleiman walking with Davutoglu and Al Thani

9. Cutaway photographer

10. Wide of meeting between president and Qatar and Turkey ministers

11. Pan of meeting

12. Mid of Davutoglu

13. Mid of Al Thani

14. Mid of Suleiman

STORYLINE

Qatar's prime minister and Turkey's foreign minister arrived in Lebanon on Tuesday in a coordinated visit to discuss the deepening political crisis in the country.

Ahmet Davutoglu and Qatar's Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, a member of the gulf emirate's royal family, met Lebanon's caretaker prime minister Saad Hariri and president Michel Suleiman.

Davutoglu's trip to Beirut came a day after he held consultations with Iran's new acting Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi in Ankara.

Lebanon's political crisis came to a head last week when the Shiite militant Hezbollah movement toppled the Western-backed government in a dispute over the UN tribunal investigating the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri.

Saad Hariri - the son of the slain leader - refused Hezbollah's demands to renounce the court, prompting 11 Hezbollah ministers and their allies to resign last Wednesday.

The move brought down the unity government and further polarised the country's rival factions: Hezbollah with its patrons in Syria and Iran on one side and Hariri's Western-backed bloc on the other, with support by the US and Saudi Arabia.

Many fear the crisis could lead to street protests and the kind of violence that has bedevilled the tiny Arab country of four (M) million people for years, including a devastating 1975-1990 civil war and sectarian battles between Sunnis and Shiites in 2008.

The UN tribunal late on Monday filed a long-awaited indictment in the Hariri killing.

The indictment was sealed and its contents will likely not become public for weeks.

But the court is widely expected to accuse members of Hezbollah of being involved in the murder, something the Shiite militant group has insisted it will not accept.

Hezbollah fiercely denies any role in the assassination and says the tribunal, jointly funded by UN member states and Lebanon, is a conspiracy by Israel and the United States.