Now Lebanon - Mikati must resign if cabinet rejects STL funding, says Edde, Octobre 26, 2011

National Bloc Party leader Carlos Edde said in an interview published on Wednesday that Prime Minister Najib Mikati must resign if the cabinet fails to fund the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).
“If the STL funding is rejected by the cabinet, then Mikati has no choice but to be honest with himself and resign immediately,” he told Al-Jumhuriya newspaper.
Edde also rejected Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s Monday statement that people can fund the STL from their own pockets if they want to.
“[I want to remind Nasrallah] of the unanimous decision taken by the 2006 national dialogue, which included Hezbollah members, [to approve] the STL.”
Nasrallah said on Monday evening that his party is against Lebanon paying its share of funding to the STL because of the international court’s “aims, gaps and behavior.”

Hezbollah and other 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, Prime Minister Najib Mikati has repeatedly voiced Lebanon’s commitment to the tribunal.
Four Hezbollah members have been indicted by the STL for the 2005 assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri. However, the Shia group strongly denies the charges and refuses to cooperate with the court.

Edde also accused the Hezbollah chief of having double standards regarding revolutionary movements in the Arab world.
“Nasrallah supports the revolutions that suit [his interests] and accuses those against his [stances] of being US-backed. [Hezbollah] is not acting according to principles, but according to its wellbeing.”
The Arab Spring, also known as the “Jasmine Revolution,” is a revolutionary wave of protests that has stormed the Arab world since December 18, 2010. So far, the Tunisian, Egyptian and Libyan regimes have fallen, while Bahrain, Yemen and Syria have experienced massive civil unrest.