The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) has current funding of $55 million and cannot be stopped even if funds are cut off, Al-Hayat newspaper quoted an anonymous French official as saying on Monday.
Tension is currently high in Lebanon as some March 8 coalition politicians are calling for the abolition of the STL, while Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun and former head of General Security Jamil as-Sayyed have publicly attacked the government. March 8 MPs have opposed STL funding in parliamentary committee discussions of the 2010 state budget.
Delaying the STL’s indictment will not change anything and its timing is up to STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, the official added, saying that “France would like to send Hezbollah a message that there can be no turning back from the tribunal.”
In July, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that the STL is an Israeli project and will indict Hezbollah members.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri has good personal relations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has advised US President Barak Obama to improve US-Syrian relations, the source also said.
-NOW Lebanon
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