"We understand the Cyprus government has been approached by the UN to host the Hariri trial on the island," a diplomatic source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Last month the UN Security Council directed UN chief Kofi Annan to negotiate a deal with Lebanon to create a tribunal for suspects in the murder of Hariri and 20 others in a February 2005 bombing in downtown Beirut.
Annan has suggested the establishment of a mixed tribunal involving Lebanese and international judges. Having such a high-profile trial in Lebanon appears to have been ruled out over security fears.
"We know that a proposal is being considered [by Cyprus] and that no final decision has been made due to political sensitivities," said the source.
"Cyprus is carefully weighing up the proposal but is cautious not to upset relations with friendly Arab countries," the source added. The Cyprus government declined to comment.
Cyprus enjoys good relations with neighbors including Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Egypt and the island has been free of any Mideast terror-related violence since the late 1980s.
The Mediterranean island has long sought a more upgraded peacemaker role in the region and the EU member state is seen as a neutral venue where feuding sides in the Middle East can talk away from the spotlight.
Cyprus hosted low-level Israeli-Palestinian meetings in the past and would be confident in vouching for the safety of judges, witnesses and court personnel.
Nicosia stepped in to accommodate more than a dozen Palestinian gunmen to help break the siege of the Church of the Nativity in 2002. It was also the logistics headquarters for the weapons inspectors going into Iraq prior to the Iraqi war in March 2003.
The issue of the court could be on the agenda when Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos visits Egypt in early May.
According to Lebanon's Daily Star newspaper, Egypt and Austria are also in the frame to hold a trial.
"But Cyprus has the best odds since it's logically the closest and cheapest of all solutions," a Lebanese justice ministry source told the paper on Wednesday.
Another daily, As-Safir, estimates the cost of hosting a trial in Cyprus for several years to be in the region of $162 million, while this figure could rise above $315 million in any other European country.
Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz, who is leading the UN probe into the murder, last month cited progress in the investigation but stressed that Syrian cooperation would be crucial to make further headway.
Two reports by his predecessor, German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, had implicated top-level Syrian officials in the plot and blasted Damascus for failing to cooperate with the UN probe.
Syria, a long time powerbroker in Lebanon, has denied any involvement in Hariri's murder and accused the UN of political bias.
© 2006 Agence France-Presse
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