Conflicting Reports on STL Funding as Cabinet Faces Impasse
The cabinet is not expected to discuss this week the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
High-ranking sources told An Nahar newspaper on Monday that the government will not discuss on Wednesday the payment of Lebanon’s share in the STL.
The postponement of the discussions came as a result of the dispute over the funding after Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun refused to fund the tribunal without amending the protocol between Lebanon and the STL.
The sources noted that the meeting between President Michel Suleiman and PM Najib Miqati on Saturday at Baabda Palace touched on the issue after they made pledges in New York to commit to the payment of Lebanon’s dues.
They stressed that the gatherers stressed on the importance of avoiding a dispute similar to the electricity project especially since the STL is linked to Lebanon’s commitment to international resolutions.
The newspaper remarked that the centrists are seeking to coordinate their stances with Hizbullah, which in return wants to tackle this issue away from the media spotlight.
However, Ad-Diyar newspaper reported on Monday that the March 8 forces are keen to discuss the STL funding during the upcoming cabinet session.
The daily said that they refuse approving the issue by a decree signed by Suleiman, Miqati and caretaking Justice Minister Walid al-Daouq instead of Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi.
Al-Liwaa newspaper said minister of state for administrative reform Mohammed Fneish was surprised by Miqati’s commitment to the STL without discussing the issue with the members of the cabinet especially Hizbullah.
Sources told the newspaper that Hizbullah’s stance from the tribunal is “well known,” saying “Miqati accepted to form the cabinet he didn’t link it to the funding of the STL.”
The STL had released arrest warrants against four Hizbullah members, accusing them of being involved in Hariri’s Feb. 2005 murder.
The party has repeatedly announced that it will not cooperate with the tribunal, describing it as an American-Israeli product aimed at destroying it.
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