UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations said Wednesday it was sending a senior legal expert to Lebanon to assist efforts to bring those responsible for the murder of ex-Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri before an international tribunal.

UN chief Kofi Annan has asked Under-Secretary General for Legal Affairs Nicolas Michel to travel to Beirut this week, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

Michel will "discuss the process for helping the Lebanese authorities to identify the nature and scope of the international assistance needed for those charged with the killing of former prime minister Hariri and others to be tried by a tribunal of an international character," Dujarric said in a statement.

The decision was in line with Security Council resolution 1644 which was adopted December 15.

The resolution acknowledged Lebanon's request for an international tribunal to try the accused for the Hariri murder last February and for an international probe into a dozen bombings that targeted anti-Syrian critics over the past year.

But it merely authorized technical assistance to Lebanon from the UN inquiry commission.

It also asked Annan in consultation with the commission and Lebanon "to present recommendations to expand the mandate of the commission to include investigations of those other attacks," including the car bombing in Beirut, which killed prominent lawmaker Gibran Tueni in December.

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