Report: STL Clause to Be Settled Only after Miqati-Nasrallah Meeting

Premier Najib Miqati does not intend to make any suggestion on the clause of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the draft policy statement before holding talks with Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, al-Mustaqbal daily reported Friday.

The final decision on the controversial clause is awaiting a meeting between Miqati and Nasrallah, the newspaper said.

Ministerial sources told An Nahar daily that the committee tasked with drafting the policy statement reviewed during its fourth meeting on Thursday the political chapter of the draft proposed by Miqati.

The 12-member committee also drafted some clauses linked to the country’s economy and the functioning of ministries.

Information Minister Walid Daouq confirmed to reporters following the meeting that the committee did not discuss the thorny issue of the STL.

“We have not yet reached this clause,” he said. Daouq hinted, however, that the committee could hold two or three more meetings starting next Monday.

But As Safir daily quoted ministerial sources as saying that the premier would propose a draft clause on the tribunal reflecting the Lebanese government’s stance and ways to deal with it in the next stage.

Miqati’s proposal would come only after a series of consultations that he would hold with the March 8 forces, they said.

The sources hinted that suggestions are made by Hizbullah not to refer to the issue of the tribunal in the policy statement and instead replace the clause with a call for justice in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination case.