Aoun, Hezbollah want the clause on STL to be in black and white

A Liwaa newspaper reported that sources close to the ministerial committee charged with drafting the ministerial policy statement ruled out any decision on the clause pertaining to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon before an agreement is reached on this issue .

Other A Liwaa sources said that the decision could depend on the STL indictment specially if it is announced within the next few days . If the indictment is issued soon then the committee will not have to deal with STL in the statement and the whole discussion will shift to the cabinet.

Al Liwaa sources have also revealed that PM Nagib Mikati has proposed a new version for the STL clause that takes into consideration Justice, Stability and STL, but according to the sources MP Michel Aoun’s and Hezbollah’s representatives in the committee refused to discuss this version, stressing that their position with regards to STL is well known.

One of the ministers reportedly noticed how Hezbollah rep Mohammad Fneish and Aoun’s rep Gebran Bassel sounded very firm with Mikati when they they told him : “we don’t want any gray version for STL …we want it in black and white” . At that moment Mikati decided to adjourn the meeting .

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) is an international tribunal that was created for the prosecution of those responsible for former PM Rafik Hariri’s assassination . Hariri was assassinated on February 14, 2005 . The tribunal also has jurisdiction over a series of other attacks in Lebanon (between 1 October 2004 and 12 December 2005) if they are proven to be connected with the Hariri assassination. The court is based in Leidschendam, near The Hague, in the Netherlands and it has a field office in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

The Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah brought down PM Saad Hariri’s government on January 12 over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s imminent indictment which is widely expected to implicate Hezbollah members in Hariri’s assassination.

Unconfirmed reports have revealed that STL will announce the indictments anytime between now and the first week of July