Now lebanon - Mikati’s office denies meeting with Bellemare, October 15, 2011

Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s office issued a statement on Saturday denying Al-Hayat newspaper’s report that Mikati met with Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s (STL) Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare during his visit to New York last September.
The statement said that “the news is totally wrong,” adding that “PM Mikati has not met Bellemare since the day the latter took office.”
Al-Hayat newspaper quoted earlier on Friday STL Acting Registrar Herman von Hebel as saying that “Bellemare gave Mikati a letter that reminds him of Lebanon’s obligation to pay its share of the STL funding,” and that “Mikati and President Michel Sleiman voiced their commitment to funding STL.”
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 UN-backed court, while Prime Minister Najib Mikati has repeatedly voiced Lebanon’s commitment to the tribunal.
Four Hezbollah members have been indicted by the STL in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. 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.