DUBAI - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in remarks aired Monday that Washington might seek to force the establishment of a tribunal in the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, under a chapter of the United Nations Charter which makes Security Council decisions mandatory.

"Absolutely. If we have to, we would push for setting up the tribunal under Chapter 7 because it is extremely important that the court is set up so that Lebanon goes back to normal," Rice told Al-Arabiya television.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon sent special legal counsel Nicolas Michel to Beirut last month to seek a way out of the domestic impasse over the tribunal, but without success.

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Diplomats have said that Western powers believe Lebanon's feuding politicians are unlikely to agree any time soon to endorse the tribunal, and that UN action is needed. Some
other council members, however, including Russia, disagree.

Central to the dispute is Lebanon's relationship with neighboring Syria, which some Lebanese officials blame for the killing of Hariri, a close ally of Damascus turned foe.

Most opposition leaders are close to Damascus, which denies any role in the bombing.

The world body had hoped Lebanon would agree on a law establishing the court after it asked the council to approve the tribunal and investigate the killing of Hariri and 22 others in a bombing in Beirut on February 14, 2005.

"Setting up the tribunal should take place despite the dead end it reached in Lebanon because the killers of premier Hariri should face justice," Rice said.

The tribunal is a key issue of disagreement between the U.S.-backed government of Fouad Siniora and its political opponents. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Syria ally, has refused to call a session of the house to ratify the tribunal.

"The democratically elected government of Siniora should be supported. Lebanon and the Lebanese people can count on the United States," said Rice.

"I would like to say to all in a very direct fashion that the democracy and sovereignty of Lebanon are critical issues for the United State and that we see them as some of our most prominent interests."

Opposition politicians had said they would not discuss the tribunal until the government was reconstituted to give them the blocking minority they have so far lacked.

Some Security Council members oppose the use of Chapter 7 to impose a tribunal, a move Hezbollah has said could plunge the country into strife.