BEIRUT: Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah will likely hold talks with Prime Minister Najib Mikati over the controversial issue of funding for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, a local newspaper said Friday.
Al-Balad newspaper, citing sources close to Hezbollah, said the two men would also discuss administrative appointments.
The sources did not elaborate on the timing of the meeting.
“Nothing prevents the prime minister from holding such a meeting,” Mikati’s office told The Daily Star Friday.
Describing as “strong” the relationship between Mikati and Hezbollah, Mikati office said, however, that no date has been set in this regard.
A new political crisis looms in Lebanon as pressure mounts on Mikati to remain committed to his pledge to pay Lebanon’s share of funding to the U.N.-backed court probing the murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
U.S. Ambassador Maura Connelly warned earlier this week that Lebanon could face “serious consequences” should it fail to pay its more than $30 million share to the STL’s funding.
Nasrallah said Monday that Hezbollah is against financing the tribunal and suggested putting the funding issue to a vote in Cabinet.
The STL has indicted four Hezbollah members in the 2005 Hariri assassination. Hezbollah denies involvement in the case and says the tribunal is part of a plot to target the resistance group.
Al-Balad newspaper, citing sources close to Hezbollah, said the two men would also discuss administrative appointments.
The sources did not elaborate on the timing of the meeting.
“Nothing prevents the prime minister from holding such a meeting,” Mikati’s office told The Daily Star Friday.
Describing as “strong” the relationship between Mikati and Hezbollah, Mikati office said, however, that no date has been set in this regard.
A new political crisis looms in Lebanon as pressure mounts on Mikati to remain committed to his pledge to pay Lebanon’s share of funding to the U.N.-backed court probing the murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
U.S. Ambassador Maura Connelly warned earlier this week that Lebanon could face “serious consequences” should it fail to pay its more than $30 million share to the STL’s funding.
Nasrallah said Monday that Hezbollah is against financing the tribunal and suggested putting the funding issue to a vote in Cabinet.
The STL has indicted four Hezbollah members in the 2005 Hariri assassination. Hezbollah denies involvement in the case and says the tribunal is part of a plot to target the resistance group.
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