BEIRUT: The Lebanese government has yet to look into the issue of funding the U.N.-backed court probing the assassination of statesman Rafik Hariri, Free Patriotic Movement MP Walid Khouri said Monday.
“The issue of funding the Special Tribunal [for Lebanon] has not been proposed yet and the government is the one that decides on this matter,” Khouri told a local radio station.
STL Registrar Herman von Hebel told The Daily Star Monday that the Lebanese Cabinet has yet to pay its dues for 2011 and “we expect the government to comply with its international obligations,” von Hebel said.
Established in 2007 under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1757, the STL has been a point of dispute among Lebanon’s rival March 8 and March 14 coalitions.
On June 30, an STL delegation handed Lebanon indictments and arrest warrants against four Lebanese suspects, all believed to members of Hezbollah. Lebanon has 30 working days to serve out the arrest warrants.
Hezbollah has repeatedly denied involvement in the assassination of Hariri and has vowed not to cooperate with the international court, describing it as “U.S.-Israeli project” aimed at targeting the resistance group and sowing sectarian strife.
During his interview Tuesday, Khoury, a member of the Hezbollah-allied FPM, said the policy statement of the March-8 dominated Cabinet recognized the STL and “there is no problem in this regards.”
“However, the issue of finding the wanted [individuals] in the crime of assassinating [former] Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and their apprehension is another matter all together.”
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