U.S. to Determine Position on Cabinet Based on Miqati’s Handling of STL Arrest Warrants

The American administration will likely determine its strategy towards the Lebanese government during the upcoming weeks based on Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s handling of the arrest warrants issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, revealed official American sources to the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat on Wednesday.

They added that the U.S. is adopting a “calm tone” in tackling the Lebanese file “seeing as it has other foreign priorities in the Arab world, such as the peace process and the situation in Egypt, Syria, Libya, and Yemen.”

The American administration had voiced its disappointment with the new Lebanese government line-up, saying that the cabinet’s position on the STL will determine the administration’s stand on Lebanon, continued the sources.

The daily quoted an American official as saying that Miqati’s handling of the arrest warrants and the cabinet’s commitment to the cooperation protocol with the STL will serve as tests for the Lebanese government.

The STL issued its indictment at the end of July along with arrest warrants against four Hizbullah members suspected of being involved in the 2005 assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.

Meanwhile, on Monday, a House panel unveiled a bill that would block U.S. aid to Lebanon, Egypt, Pakistan and the Palestinian Authority unless the Obama administration reassures Congress that they are cooperating in “battling terrorism.”

The legislation is a direct challenge to President Barack Obama and his foreign policy authority, and comes as the House is looking at significant cuts in the annual budget for the State Department and foreign assistance.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee will consider the bill authorizing the money on Wednesday. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the Republican chairwoman of the panel, released an initial draft on Monday.

While the House is likely to approve the bill, its prospects in the Democratic-controlled Senate are dim. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, a Democrat, is likely to reject many of the bill's provisions.

But if approved, no U.S. assistance would be made to Miqati’s cabinet given that it includes Hizbullah members. In other words, no foreign military financing or international military education and training (IMET) funding for Lebanon would be permitted if this bill were to become law.

According to the bill, aid to Lebanon would be contingent on the secretary of state certifying to Congress that no member of Hizbullah serves in a policy position in a ministry, agency or entity in the government.(AP-Naharnet)