BEIRUT: Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea warned against rejecting the financing of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Wednesday, as he said it would alienate a majority of Lebanese who had demanded its creation.
“Geagea warned the [parliamentary] majority not to mess with the issue of financing the international tribunal because that would awaken dormant strife by overlooking and neglecting the majority of people who have demanded justice and truth,” Geagea’s press office said in a statement.
He also urged lawmakers who oppose the financing of the tribunal to recognize what he described as a “destructive” stance against the tribunal on the domestic and international levels.
“This increases the national split and will also be followed by international isolation and sanctions against Lebanon,” he said, after meeting with MP Fouad Saad in Meerab.
Geagea added that there was no need for the March 14 coalition to attempt to bring down the government, since the Cabinet would internally collapse if some elements rejected paying Lebanon’s $32 million share of the tribunal’s budget.
Hezbollah and its allies, who hold a majority in the government, have outright rejected financing the tribunal which in late June indicted four Hezbollah members of involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Despite repeated vows by Prime Minister Najib Mikati and President Michel Sleiman that Lebanon will commit to its international obligations including the tribunal, the majority has warned it would block all attempts to pass a legislation enabling Lebanon to pay its dues.
Geagea also touched upon information that Syrian dissidents have been kidnapped by the Syrian Embassy in Lebanon in cooperation with the Internal Security Forces, saying that such a matter poses a threat to Lebanon’s sovereignty and existence as a state.
On Oct. 19, the head of the Internal Security Forces Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi released a detailed report that implicated the Syrian Embassy and its ISF personnel in the kidnappings of opposition figures.
Regarding Syrian army incursions into Lebanese territory, Geagea held Foreign Affairs Minister Adnan Mansour and other Lebanese officials responsible for these violations, adding that the matter has been dealt with too lightly by Lebanese officials.
Many March 14 lawmakers have criticized the government’s silence over the repeated incursions.
“Geagea warned the [parliamentary] majority not to mess with the issue of financing the international tribunal because that would awaken dormant strife by overlooking and neglecting the majority of people who have demanded justice and truth,” Geagea’s press office said in a statement.
He also urged lawmakers who oppose the financing of the tribunal to recognize what he described as a “destructive” stance against the tribunal on the domestic and international levels.
“This increases the national split and will also be followed by international isolation and sanctions against Lebanon,” he said, after meeting with MP Fouad Saad in Meerab.
Geagea added that there was no need for the March 14 coalition to attempt to bring down the government, since the Cabinet would internally collapse if some elements rejected paying Lebanon’s $32 million share of the tribunal’s budget.
Hezbollah and its allies, who hold a majority in the government, have outright rejected financing the tribunal which in late June indicted four Hezbollah members of involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Despite repeated vows by Prime Minister Najib Mikati and President Michel Sleiman that Lebanon will commit to its international obligations including the tribunal, the majority has warned it would block all attempts to pass a legislation enabling Lebanon to pay its dues.
Geagea also touched upon information that Syrian dissidents have been kidnapped by the Syrian Embassy in Lebanon in cooperation with the Internal Security Forces, saying that such a matter poses a threat to Lebanon’s sovereignty and existence as a state.
On Oct. 19, the head of the Internal Security Forces Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi released a detailed report that implicated the Syrian Embassy and its ISF personnel in the kidnappings of opposition figures.
Regarding Syrian army incursions into Lebanese territory, Geagea held Foreign Affairs Minister Adnan Mansour and other Lebanese officials responsible for these violations, adding that the matter has been dealt with too lightly by Lebanese officials.
Many March 14 lawmakers have criticized the government’s silence over the repeated incursions.
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