UNITED NATIONS - A UN report released here Tuesday called for establishment of a mixed tribunal involving Lebanese and international judges to take up the murder of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri.

"Establishment of a mixed tribunal would best balance the need for Lebanese and international involvement in the work of the tribunal," said the report issued by UN chief Kofi Annan.

"That balance would be determined by such important characteristics as the tribunal's founding instrument, applicable law, location, composition and financial arrangements," it added.

It noted that Lebanese authorities believe that for security reasons the court should be established outside Lebanon.

"It is clear that there is a belief, based on security concerns, among the Lebanese authorities that the tribunal might not be able to operate effectively in Lebanon," it said. "It will be necessary to carefully and fully consider this issue."

It said the jurisdiction of the tribunal would have to be determined with respect to the persons involved and the acts committed.

The report stressed that whatever the outcome of ongoing discussions on the composition of the tribunal, "it is of the highest importance that judges, the prosecutor and other court personnel be selected in a way that ensures the independence, objectivity and impartiality of the judicial process."

The UN Security Council last December authorised Lebanon to create a special tribunal for the murder of Hariri and 20 others in a February 2005 bombing in downtown Beirut.

It then also acknowledged Lebanon's request for an international probe into a dozen bombings that targeted anti-Syrian critics in Beirut last year.

A UN enquiry has implicated Syrian and Lebanese security officials in the the Hariri slaying.

Last January Annan decided to send its top legal adviser, Nicolas Michel, to provide technical assistance to the Lebanese in creating the international tribunal in conformity with UN Security Council resolution 1644.

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