The UN and the Lebanese government have agreed that a tribunal to prosecute the suspected killers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri should be located outside Lebanon.

Moreover, they two have also agreed that there must be an international prosecutor and that the tribunal have a majority of international judges, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report on Thursday.

He told the UN Security Council that having more international than Lebanese judges in the mixed tribunal would help ensure its independence.

The 37-page report includes a draft agreement between the UN and the Lebanese government to establish the tribunal, a draft statute for the tribunal, and a discussion of the similarities and differences between the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and other tribunals where the UN has played a major role.

Discussions likely

The Security Council is expected to discuss the report on Monday at a closed meeting attended by UN Legal Counsel Nicolas Michel.

Michel had negotiated the agreement with Lebanese judges and presented the initial drafts to Lebanon's prime minister and justice minister in early September.

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, who is anti-Syrian, sent a letter to Annan informing the UN of the Council of Ministers' approval of the plan on Monday.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the secretary-general considered the government's decision "an important step" in fulfilling his requirement to negotiate an agreement with the government.

In the report, Annan said that he had also received a copy of observations on the draft agreement made by Lebanon's pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud including a challenge to the Council of Ministers' decision.

But the secretary-general appeared to dismiss Lahoud's challenge, saying the negotiated agreements "are now submitted to the Security Council for its consideration."

Hariri was killed with 22 others in a suicide truck bombing in February 2005.

The assassination sparked huge protests against Syria, which was widely seen as culpable. Syria denied involvement, but was forced to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, ending a 29-year presence.