A landmark international tribunal to try the suspected killers of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri opened at The Hague yesterday with pledges to provide justice to victims of terrorism.

At a ceremony to inaugurate the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, chief prosecutor Daniel Bellemare said it constituted the world's first anti-terrorist court.

"By the very nature of its mandate, the STL is the first international anti-terrorist tribunal," he told VIPs, diplomats and journalists.

Saad Hariri, whose father was killed in the massive Beirut car bombing in February 2005 along with 22 other people, hailed the opening of the court as a historic day for his country.

"Today the flag of justice for Lebanon is being raised in The Hague. It is a historic date.

"March 1 is the fruit of the efforts of all Lebanese people who supported the establishment of the court and who refused to yield to threats and terror," he said in a statement issued in Beirut.

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