Now lebanon - Funding STL through decree is “illegal”, says Hobeish, October 2, 2011

Lebanon First bloc MP Hadi Hobeish said on Sunday that funding the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) through an executive decree is illegal.
“Financing the tribunal through a decree is illegal, this matter needs a cabinet decision,” he told MTV station.
“The STL funding is [mandatory] and the cabinet has the duty to implement it,” Hobeish added.
The Future Movement official also said that President Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister Najib Mikati vowed to adhere to international resolutions and to fund the UN-backed tribunal.
“[They] heard clear [warnings] that if Lebanon does not [fund the STL] it will be subject to sanctions and to a [confrontation] with the international community,” 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 investigating 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.
Following his meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday, Mikati reiterated his commitment to international resolutions.

Hobeish added that the March 8 parties are trying to insinuate political positions in Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai recent statements, which he did not voice.
“The patriarch’s positions … do not mean that he supports one party against the other,” he said.
The patriarch has faced criticism by some figures of the Western-backed March 14 coalition after his statements in support of the Syrian regime and Hezbollah’s arms.

However, the patriarch later commented on the aforementioned statements and said that they “were taken out of context and have nothing to do” with his personal opinion.