Nasrallah: STL Funding to Be Put to Govt. Vote if No Consensus Reached
Hizbullah Chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah stressed on Monday that his party is against the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
“The cabinet will resolve the issue when it’s the right time, but we refuse to fund the STL,” Nasrallah said in an interview with Hizbullah's al-Manar television.
He stated that “if the cabinet failed to reach a decision, then the matter should be submitted to vote at the parliament.”
Nasrallah called on those who want to finance the tribunal to “do it from their own pocket.”
Prime Minister Najib Miqati had received at the end of September a message from U.N. chief Ban Ki-Moon requesting Lebanon to pay its $33 million dues.
The STL had issued arrest warrants against four Hizbullah members, accusing them of being involved in Hariri’s Feb. 2005 murder.
The party has announced that it will not cooperate with the tribunal, describing it as an American-Israeli product aimed at destroying it.
Nasrallah praised the cabinet’s accomplishments, stressing that the “relations between the allies is excellent, ruling out (rumors).”
However, he said that “there are some different opinions” among the members of the cabinet.
Concerning the popular revolt in Syria, Hizbullah’s leader said that the Syrian regime is largely "out of the danger zone" despite a 7-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad.
"Is Syria out of danger? We can say, to a very large extent, yes," Nasrallah told his interviewer.
Mass demonstrations in Syria have triggered a brutal crackdown, with security forces opening fire on protesters, killing about 3,000, according to the United Nations. International pressure on Assad to stop the killing has been increasing, but the Syrian leader says terrorists are behind the unrest -not true reform-seekers.
Nasrallah stressed that Assad has significant support in Syria.
He said the number of protesters was now "at its lowest" and predicted Syria will overcome the external pressures, adding that Syria's recalling Monday of its ambassador to Washington, in retaliation to the withdrawal of the U.S. ambassador, was "a sign of strength."
He also said any NATO-style military action against Syria was far-fetched due to worries that it would lead to a regional war that may affect Israel.
A destabilized Syria, the argument goes, could send unsettling ripples through the region.
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