Economy and Trade Minister Nicolas Nahas urged officials on Saturday to tackle the Special Tribunal for Lebanon away from the media spotlight and “withdraw” it from political discussions, the National News Agency reported.
He stressed that the STL will “be included in the state budget.”
The Netherlands-based tribunal, the only international court with jurisdiction to try acts of terror, was created by a 2007 U.N. Security Council resolution, at Lebanon's request, to try those responsible for Hariri's assassination in a suicide car bombing on February 14, 2005.
Lebanon has to pay its $33 million dues which are nearly half of the STL’s annual $65 million.
The STL had issued arrest warrants against four Hizbullah members, accusing them of being involved in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 2005 murder.
The party has announced that it will not cooperate with the tribunal, describing it as an American-Israeli product aimed at destroying it.
Concerning the hike in minimum wages, Nahas said that the cabinet will not “back down on its decision,” noting that the state is the only side allowed to determine the wages’ cap.
He said that this is the first step followed by other steps included in a comprehensive economic plan for the cabinet.
The minister pledged to monitor the prices to prevent any hike or manipulation.
Earlier this week, the cabinet on Tuesday increased the minimum wage to LL700,000 from LL500,000. It also raised by LL200,000 the wages of workers earning less than LL1 million and by LL300,000 those earning between LL1 million and LL1.8 million.
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