Newly-appointed Minister of State Ahmad Karami , a key ally of PM Nagib Mikati said on Monday that no one can interfere in the affairs of the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).
“The tribunal is international, and thus, no one can interfere in its track,” Karami told MTV.
He also said that Hezbollah insisted on naming Faisal Karami – the son of former Prime Minister Omar Karami – as a minister in the new cabinet.
However, he added that PM Najib Mikati “refused to let go of me and insisted on naming me in addition to Faisal Karami in the cabinet.”
This cabinet has 7 Sunni ministers and 5 Shiite ministers for the first time since Taef accord. This according to observers was the result of insistence by Hezbollah to include Faisal Karami , son of former PM Omar Karami in the cabinet despite Mikati’s objections . Ahmad Karami represents Mikati in the cabinet
The Iranian and Syrian -backed Hezbollah brought down PM Saad Hariri’s government on January 12 over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s (STL) imminent indictment which is widely expected to implicate Hezbollah members in the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri in 2005
Mikati was appointed in January as the PM designate with the backing of the Hezbollah March 8 alliance and MPs Walid Jumblatt and Mohammad Safadi . March 14 leaders have repeatedly said that intimidation from Hezbollah’s weapons helped secure the parliamentary majority for Mikati’s nomination.
Jumblatt and his PSP parliament members reportedly switched allegiance to Hezbollah’s PM candidate, following threats by Hezbollah.
Jumblatt, Mikati and Safadi were all elected on March 14 electoral tickets during the 2009 parliamentary elections.
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