A UN-backed tribunal on Tuesday convicted a Hezbollah member of conspiracy to kill former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in a 2005 bombing, but said there was no evidence the leadership of Hezbollah or the Syrian government were involved in the 2005 killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

Judges said they were "satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt" that the evidence showed that the main defendant, Salim Jamil Ayyash, possessed "one of six mobiles used by the assassination team" and ruled he was guilty of committing a terrorist attack and of homicide.

"The evidence also established that Mr. Ayyash had affiliation with Hezbollah," said Judge Micheline Braidy, reading a summary of the 2,600-page verdict.

Three other members of the Iran-backed Shi'ite movement Hezbollah have also been charged with conspiracy to carry out the massive bomb attack that killed Hariri and 21 other people. The tribunal found that there was insufficient evidence against them, and they were then acquitted.

Hariri, a Sunni Muslim billionaire, had close ties with the United States, Western and Sunni Gulf Arab allies, and was seen as a threat to Iranian and Syrian influence in Lebanon. He led efforts to rebuild Beirut following the 1975-1990 civil war. 

On the involvement of Hezbollah leadership and the Syrian government, Judge David Re said earlier that "the trial chamber is of the view that Syria and Hezbollah may have had motives to eliminate Mr. Hariri and his political allies. However, there is no evidence that the Hezbollah leadership had any involvement in Mr. Hariri's murder and there is no direct evidence of Syrian involvement."

Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the February 14, 2005 bombing.

The reading of the verdict by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which began on Tuesday, comes as the country is still reeling from the aftermath of a huge explosion that killed 178 people this month and from an economic meltdown that has shattered lives. 

Hariri's assassination plunged Lebanon into what was then its worst crisis since the civil war, setting the stage for years of confrontation between rival political forces. 

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday he was not concerned with the trial and that if any members of the group were convicted, it would stand by their innocence. 

"We have been waiting for this moment for 15 years, and this moment reminds us that no matter what happens, we remain one family, one pain and one heart, and this is my covenant with the martyr's parents," former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of Rafik, said on Twitter.

(With input from Reuters, AFP)