March 8 Procrastinates STL Funding Discussions, Breakthrough Likely Found
The March 8 forces will begin tackling the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri by the beginning of October, An Nahar newspaper reported on Friday.
A ministerial source told the daily that any breakthrough in the issue of the STL would have to be through the cabinet.
The source noted that the payment of Lebanon’s share will be included in the 2011 state budget.
A March 8 source told al-Liwaa newspaper that the stances announced by President Michel Suleiman and PM Najib Miqati in New York only commit them and don’t impose any obligations on the members of the cabinet.
“When the right time comes, the issue will be resolved by adopting a legal mechanism,” the source said.
He stressed that the dispute over the funding of the STL can only be resolved by adopting two methods, the first “constitutional and requires reconsidering the legality of this tribunal, while the other is legal and requires re-opening of the false witnesses issue.”
The source raised the possibility of bargaining the funding of the STL with amending the protocol signed between the Lebanese government and the STL by next March.
A ministerial source told al-Liwaa that a suggested way out could be through issuing a decree that approves paying Lebanon’s $33 million dues, signed by the President, the PM, Finance Minister Mohammed al-Safadi and caretaking Justice Minister Walid al-Daouq, since Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi committed himself to the Free Patriotic Movement decision not to approve the funding even if Hizbullah accepted.
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