[JURIST] A criminal network may have been responsible for the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive], the UN International Independent Investigation Commission (IIIC) [authorizing resolution; UN materials] said Friday. In a press briefing [recorded audio] on its latest report [PDF text], the IIIC said that this network continued to operate after the assassination and may be involved with other attacks in Lebanon.

Hariri was killed in February 2005 by a car bomb in Beirut which killed 22 others. The IIIC was formed [JURIST report] in 2005 after the UN found that Lebanon's earlier investigations were not carried out to acceptable standards. It also found that Syrian influence was responsible for creating the political tension that preceded the assassination. The UN is currently is the process of establishing a tribunal [JURIST report; UN materials] to try those suspected in the murder. BBC News has more.