Now Lebanon - Mikati assures Hariri of Lebanon’s funding of STL, says report, October 27, 2011

Prime Minister Najib Mikati assured former PM Saad Hariri that the government will provide its annual share of funding to the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), An-Nahar newspaper reported.“I cannot accept not to fund the STL. I have announced [my position] from the beginning [of my tenure] and I stick to my word,” Mikati was quoted as saying by the daily’s Thursday edition.According to the paper, Mikati “sent more than a message to Hariri through [proxies]” to reiterate his commitment to the tribunal’s funding.The daily also said that Mikati, through his brother, informed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of his position vis-à-vis the STL.“The Syrian president called for coordinating the issue with Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.”Hezbollah and other Syrian-backed March 8 parties and figures have spoken out against Lebanon’s ties and funding for the tribunal and called it a tool to incite sectarian strife in Lebanon, however, Mikati has repeatedly voiced Lebanon’s commitment to the tribunal.Four Hezbollah members have been indicted by the STL for the 2005 murder of ex-PM Rafik Hariri. However, the Shia group strongly denies the charges and refuses to cooperate with the court.