The March 8 forces will begin tackling the funding of the Special
Tribunal for Lebanon probing the assassination of ex-Prime Minister
Rafik Hariri by the beginning of October, An Nahar newspaper reported
on Friday.
A ministerial source told the daily that any breakthrough in the issue of the STL would have to be through the cabinet.
The source noted that the payment of Lebanon’s share will be included in the 2011 state budget.
A March 8 source told al-Liwaa newspaper that the stances announced
by President Michel Suleiman and PM Najib Miqati in New York only
commit them and don’t impose any obligations on the members of the
cabinet.
“When the right time comes, the issue will be resolved by adopting a legal mechanism,” the source said.
He stressed that the dispute over the funding of the STL can only be
resolved by adopting two methods, the first “constitutional and
requires reconsidering the legality of this tribunal, while the other
is legal and requires re-opening of the false witnesses issue.”
The source raised the possibility of bargaining the funding of the
STL with amending the protocol signed between the Lebanese government
and the STL by next March.
A ministerial source told al-Liwaa that a suggested way out could be
through issuing a decree that approves paying Lebanon’s $33 million
dues, signed by the President, the PM, Finance Minister Mohammed
al-Safadi and caretaking Justice Minister Walid al-Daouq, since Justice
Minister Shakib Qortbawi committed himself to the Free Patriotic
Movement decision not to approve the funding even if Hizbullah accepted.
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