Aoun: Seeing as Miqati is so Rich, Why Doesn’t he Fund STL?
Aoun renewed on Tuesday his opposition to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, rejecting attempts to fund it.
He said after the Change and Reform bloc’s weekly meeting: “Seeing as Prime Minister Najib Miqati and his brothers have amassed billions of dollars, then he can provide the $35 million Lebanon is obligated to pay to fund the tribunal.”
Miqati had announced at the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday Lebanon’s renewed commitment to respect international resolutions, including respecting the STL.
Addressing Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea recent statements that the MP has formed an “alliance of minorities,” Aoun asked: “Who spoke of such an alliance?”
“Where did he come up with such a thing?” he wondered.
“We will not tolerate such accusations from anyone without evidence,” he stated.
Aoun continued: “We signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Hizbullah that is based on consensual democracy. Yes, the minorities in Syria are in danger and the U.S. recognized this threat meaning they are responsible for the constructive chaos.”
Commenting on Geagea’s criticism of Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s fears over the safety of minorities in the region, he said: “I don’t understand his attack against the patriarch.”
“The patriarch is not making political stands and when he says that he fears that the minorities are in danger, he is bolstering mutual coexistence in the Middle East,” noted the FPM leader.
Al-Rahi had voiced concerns during his trip to France that extremist regimes would assume power in the Middle East, thereby threatening Christians in the region.
Geagea responded to these fears on Saturday by indirectly accusing the Syrian regime of posing a danger to Christians, asking: “What extremism is greater than that that was experience in Lebanon for three decades that led to the burdening of Christians?”
Addressing Palestine’s bid to be recognized as an independent state by the United Nations, the MP said: “The U.N. has remained silent over the ongoing crimes committed against the Palestinians.”
“They are now demanding to be granted what is left of their land following the 1948 occupation, so why has the international organization not yet recognized the Palestinian state?” he wondered.
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