State Minister Ahmad Karami told Kuwaiti newspaper As-Seyassah in an interview published on Tuesday that “Prime Minister Najib Mikati is serious about resigning if the cabinet does not approve [Lebanon’s] funding for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.”
“Lebanon cannot afford any international sanctions, and certain parties must be aware of these dangers,” Karami said
Karami also said that “Speaker Nabih Berri is working on finding a solution for the STL funding .”
Mikati has called for the cabinet to meet on November 30 and discuss the issue of Lebanon’s share of funding for the STL investigating the 2005 assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri.
Last week, PM Najib Mikati made it very clear that he will resign if the cabinet fails to secure funding for the tribunal.
The current Lebanese government is dominated by the Iranian and Syrian-backed Hezbollah and its allies, who are insisting that the country cease all cooperation with STL.
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon was created by the United Nations Security Council in 2007 , at the request of the Government of Lebanon to investigate the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
On January 12, 2011 Hezbollah and allies with the help of the Shiite minister in the cabinet that represented president Michel Suleiman overthrew the government of former PM Saad Hariri over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s imminent indictment.
STL issued the indictments and arrest warrants on June 30. Two of the suspects Badreddine and Ayyash are reportedly senior members of Hezbollah and played leading roles in the assassination while the other two Hezbollah members Hassan Aneissy and Assad Sabra played a supporting role in the execution of the assassination.
“No Lebanese government will be able to carry out any arrests whether in 30 days, 30 years or even 300 years.” Nasrallah said following the announcement of the indictments.
It appears now that STL could also result in the fall of the current government
Lebanon should contribute 49 percent of the STL’s annual funding but so far has not contributed anything in 2011 fiscal year
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.