Images and details of four alleged killers issued

THE names, photographs and details of four men wanted for the assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri have been released by a United Nations-backed tribunal in Lebanon to speed their arrest.

Last month the Special Tribunal for Lebanon delivered indictments and the arrest warrants to the authorities. Lebanese officials said the accused were members of the Shia militant group, Hezbollah.

But Hezbollah accuses the tribunal of being a tool of America and Israel and denies any link to the 2005 car-bomb assassination.

Pre-trial judge Daniel Fransen ordered the lifting of confidentiality protecting the individuals named in the indictment.

A tribunal statement said: "The prosecutor further submits that making the requested information available in public fora may increase the likelihood of apprehending the accused in the event that any of them are noticed by the public."

The suspects named were Mustafa Amine Badreddine, a senior Hezbollah figure, Salim Jamil Ayyash, Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Assad Hassan Sabra.

Hilal Khashan, a Lebanon-based commentator, said that the Lebanese government, which is backed by Hezbollah, was unable to assist the tribunal.

He said: "The government says they are co-operating but they haven't found anyone. We know that the four are not in Lebanon. Hezbollah removed them to help the government, which can now say it looked for the four but couldn't find them."

Mr Hariri's death plunged Lebanon into chaos and sparked bombings, killings and sectarian clashes which threatened a return to civil war in May 2008.

Hezbollah said it had nothing to do with the Beirut bomb which killed Mr Hariri, a Sunni, and 22 others in February 2005.