Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that “no one” has ruled out a solution to the issue of providing the government’s annual share of funding to the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).
“No one, including Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has ruled out a solution to the issue,” Mikati said in an interview with An-Nahar newspaper published on Sunday.
He added that he was “not surprised” by Nasrallah’s latest position regarding the tribunal’s funding, a reference to the Hezbollah chief’s Monday interview in which he rejected to fund the STL.
Asked about the “mechanism” that will be used in order to resolve the STL funding dispute, the PM said, “We should not anticipate events…We have enough time to [continue] our talks and we hope to reach positive outcomes.”
Asked about the “mechanism” that will be used in order to resolve the STL funding dispute, the PM said, “We should not anticipate events…We have enough time to [continue] our talks and we hope to reach positive outcomes.”
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.
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