* Lebanon tribunal in The Hague starts work on Sunday

* Lebanese authorities hold seven suspects

(Adds seven detainees held in Lebanon, paragraph 2)

By Aaron Gray-Block

THE HAGUE, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The Special Tribunal for Lebanon, set up by the United Nations to try suspects in the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, will start work on Sunday, the registrar said on Tuesday.

Lebanese authorities are holding seven people, including four generals, in connection with the attack, and Registrar Robin Vincent said he expected the prosecutor to ask for them to be transferred to The Hague.

The prosecutor, Daniel Bellemare, did not attend the press briefing, and U.N. investigators have yet to name any suspects.

Bellemare has said he believes the case can be solved and has asked for patience as he assembles evidence. He has said the opening of the tribunal does not mean legal proceedings will start immediately and investigations will continue.

It is just over four years since Hariri and 22 other people were killed in a car bomb blast in Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005.

Hariri's assassination sparked a worldwide outcry and some anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians have said Syria was behind the bombing, a charge Damascus vehemently denies.

Vincent said the tribunal, set up at Lebanon's request, would have a $51.4 million budget for 2009 and that Lebanon, which will contribute 49 percent of it, had already made a significant down payment. The rest will come from voluntary contributions from member states.

"We have more than enough money ... the finances of this tribunal are in an extremely healthy state," he told a press briefing in a gymnasium at the tribunal building, soon to be converted into the trial chamber.

Vincent said the tribunal had 60 days from when the prosecutor took office to ask the Lebanese authorities to transfer people and evidence to The Hague.

Suspects transferred to The Hague will be kept in a separate wing of the Scheveningen detention centre, which also houses suspects of the International Criminal Court and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

The Lebanon wing is already staffed and operational.

If indictments are issued, suspects can surrender to the tribunal voluntarily, the tribunal can ask the Security Council to put pressure on states to sent people to the court or it can try suspects in absentia.

Vincent said he expected the tribunal to complete its work in three to five years. (editing by Tim Pearce)

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