Now Lebanon - March 14 calls on cabinet to pay STL funding share - September 07, 2011

The March 14 General Secretariat on Wednesday urged the cabinet to pay Lebanon’s annual share to the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which is probing ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s 2005 assassination.
“The cabinet headed by PM Najib Mikati must immediately pay Lebanon’s share to the tribunal,” March 14 said.
The secretariat added that “any shortcomings” in the government performance vis-a-vis the STL “would be a breach of Lebanon’s commitment to international resolutions.”
March 14 also said that “Lebanon cannot remain silent regarding the practices against pro-democracy demonstrators in Arab countries.”
“The Lebanese government must take brave positions [vis-a-vis the Arab uprising] to reflect the culture of freedom that the Lebanese believe in.”
The Arab Spring, also known as the Jasmine Revolution, is a revolutionary wave of protests that has stormed the Arab world since 18 December 2010.  So far, there have been revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, a civil war in Libya and civil unrests in Bahrain, Syria, and Yemen.
Meanwhile, the STL indicted last month four Hezbollah members for Rafik Hariri’s murder. However, the Shia group ruled out the arrest of the four suspects.
The Hezbollah-led March 8 parties –which currently dominate Lebanon’s cabinet –have opposed a clause in the Lebanese annual state budget, which pertains to the funding of the tribunal.
Lebanon contributes with 49 percent of the STL’s annual funding.