Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said on Sunday that he supports the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which is probing the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
“Not to fund the STL means abolishing it, which we cannot do because that would bring harm to Lebanon on the economic and social levels,” Charbel was quoted by the National News Agency as saying.
Hezbollah-led March 8 parties – which currently dominate Lebanon’s cabinet – have opposed a clause in the Lebanese annual state budget pertaining to the funding of the tribunal.
Lebanon contributes 49 percent of the STL’s annual funding.
Four Hezbollah members have been indicted by the STL in the assassination of Hariri. However, the Shia group strongly denied the charges and refuses to cooperate with the court
Regarding Hezbollah’s weapons, Charbel said that he will “be against them when the Lebanese army is well-armed and is provided with the munitions and weapons that can protect all the Lebanese people.”
Charbel also commented on Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea’s statements regarding the security situation in Lebanon, characterizing them as “very exaggerated.”
Geagea said on Saturday during the LF’s annual “Martyrs of the Lebanese Resistance” mass that “Hezbollah members are being treated differently than all other citizens, especially security wise and use heavy weapons before the eyes of the security forces members, who do not [dare] intervene.”
-NOW Lebanon
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