Ministerial Source: Miqati’s Commitment to Fund STL is ‘Harmful’
A March 8 ministerial source that rejects the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon has criticized Premier Najib Miqati for promising the international community that Lebanon would pay its share of funds for the STL.
The source unveiled to pan-Arab daily al-Hayat published Sunday that Miqati hasn’t yet proposed any suggestion to fund the court and hasn’t discussed any approach with Hizbullah, which rejects the funding.
The Shiite party slams the STL as an Israeli and American tool and says the indictment issued against four Hizbullah members has no foundations given that it is based on the circumstantial evidence of telecommunications data in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri Feb. 2005 assassination.
“The prime minister’s continued remarks about a commitment to fund the tribunal are harming him and putting him in a critical situation with the international parties and local sides, mainly Hizbullah and its allies,” the source said.
He stressed that any solution to the funding lies in the cabinet, hinting that the funding would be obstructed by Hizbullah and the remaining March 8 forces.
A report said Saturday that Hizbullah has recently formed a committee of legal experts to carefully examine the cooperation protocol signed between Lebanon and the STL.
Opposition political sources told al-Liwaa newspaper that the committee will then seek to introduce a number of amendments to this agreement.
But legal experts told the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa daily on Sunday that the protocol is not linked to the court’s funding.
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