Now Lebanon - French FM: Mikati provided assurances over STL funding, November 25, 2011

French Foreign Minister Juppe said that Prime Minister Najib Mikati “assured” him that his government will provide its annual share of funding to the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon and welcomed a possible meeting with Mikati.

“Of course I will receive Mikati…because he assured me that the STL funding will be secured,” Juppe told Al-Arabiya television on Thursday night.

He added, “I trust [Mikati’s] word and I am ready to receive him.”

“There are historical ties between France and Lebanon… and we are committed to [bilateral] relations with different Lebanese factions.”

However, Juppe said that Paris is “concerned about the situation” in Lebanon, adding that “all [our] efforts to guarantee Lebanon’s stability and sovereignty [might] vanish.”

Juppe also said that Lebanese officials must “alienate the country from regional tension and honor international commitments.”

The French official added that “any civil war in Syria will have [negative] repercussions on Lebanon.”

Lebanon's political scene is split between supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, led by Hezbollah, and the March 14 pro-Western camp.

The Arab League suspended Syria’s membership in the organization until Assad implements an Arab deal to end violence against protesters, and Lebanon voted against the move.

Meanwhile, Mikati’s government is dominated by Hezbollah and its allies, which are insisting that the country cease all cooperation with the Netherlands-based STL, set up in the wake of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s 2005 murder.

The tribunal has charged four Hezbollah operatives in connection with the assassination.

Lebanon contributes 49 percent of the STL’s annual funding.

-NOW Lebanon