Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday said that he is not bound to follow any request made by the United Nations regarding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).
Lebanon should be “repaid the funding” it provided to the UN-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, he added following his bloc’s weekly meeting.
Aoun also discussed the dispute over land property in the Jbeil town of Lasa, accusing politicians of using the incident in an attempt to incite Sunni-Shia strife.
“[Some] people and politicians interfered to [incite] the dispute between the people and make it look like there is a Sunni-Shia conflict over property.”
He added that a meeting last week between Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai and relevant authorities in Bkirki reached an agreement to survey the land in dispute.
Last Tuesday, MTV network’s crews were prevented from carrying out their reporting tasks in Lasa, where a Maronite delegation was also assaulted and prevented from surveying a piece of land belonging to the Maronite Patriarchate.
Aoun urged the new government dominated by his March 8 allies to speed up its work, adding, “We call on the cabinet approve the delayed bills and submit them [to parliament].”
The Change and Reform bloc leader also accused Internal Security Forces Director General Achraf Rifi of committing violations and “being incompetent.”
He also said that the national dialogue should tackle the national defense strategy, adding that the issue of Hezbollah’s arms is “being politicized.”
President Michel Sleiman has called for resuming the national dialogue, while the western-backed March 14 figures have said they will only attend if the session tackles the issue of Hezbollah’s arms.
The UN-backed STL indicted four members of Hezbollah in connection to Rafik Hariri’s murder, but the Shia group ruled out their arrest.
-NOW Lebanon
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