Future bloc MP Kazem al-Kheir said on Thursday that “Hezbollah is trying to escape [discussing] the clause on funding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL)” probing the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Kheir told Al-Akhbar al-Yawm news agency that “the government will [face] an impasse now that President Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced Lebanon’s commitment to the STL and international resolutions.”
“This impasse will [plunge] Lebanon into a crisis and confrontation with the international community,” he added.
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, while Mikati has repeatedly voiced Lebanon’s commitment to the STL.
Four Hezbollah members have been indicted by the STL for the Rafik Hariri murder. However, the Shia group strongly denied the charges and refuses to cooperate with the court.
Lebanon contributes 49 percent of the STL’s annual funding.
The MP also called for approving the right of Lebanese expatriates to vote from their countries of residence.
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