Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Tuesday that the funding of the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) will be discussed in the upcoming weeks.
“The STL funding will be discussed in the upcoming weeks… and Lebanon will have to suffer if the subsidy is not approved,” the National News Agency quoted him as saying.
“The [country] that benefits from not funding the STL is Israel… which will then have a motive to not implement the UN [Security Council] Resolution 1701,” he added.
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 which is probing the 2005 assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri.
Four Hezbollah members have been indicted by the STL. However, the Shia group strongly denied the charges and refuses to cooperate with the court.
The PM also addressed Lebanon’s relation with Syria.
“Lebanon has a historical relation with Syria, and good economic transactions are taking place between the two countries even if now they are harmed by the recent developments [in Syria],” he added.
Mikati also said that he will go to Syria when he kicks off his official visits abroad and will discuss the border demarcation between the two countries.
Mikati added that, given the current situation in the region, Lebanon has no choice but to be neutral.
The UN says that the Syrian regime's crackdown on protests that erupted in mid-March has killed more than 2,700 people.
The premier addressed the issue of maritime border with Cyprus saying that a treaty with Cyprus exists, but it was not ratified by the parliament, adding that “this does not mean that Lebanon cannot start oil and gas drilling within its waters.”
In July, Israel's cabinet approved a map of the Jewish state's proposed maritime borders with Lebanon, which is to be submitted to the UN.
Following Israel’s approval of the map, Energy Minister Gebran Bassil countered that Lebanon will not give up its maritime rights. Lebanon and Israel differ on their interpretation of the maritime border.
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