Now Lebanon - Nicolas: Some should fund STL out of their ‘own pockets’, September 28. 2011

Change and Reform bloc MP Nabil Nicolas said on Wednesday that the parties calling for providing Lebanon’s share of funding to the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) should do it “out of their own pockets.”“Those who are in a rush to fund the tribunal should do it out of their own pockets, and they will be refunded when [parliament] passes a bill that deals with the matter,” the MP told Al-Manar television.He added that “spending [public funds] should only be done after a relevant bill is ratified in parliament.”Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who reiterated commitment to the STL, should fund it “out of his pocket.The STL indicted four Hezbollah members for ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s 2005 murder. However, the Shia group ruled out the arrest of the suspects.The 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.