Naharnet

Report: Assad Met Nasrallah, Advised him to Fund STL

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah discussed with Syrian President Bashar Assad the stance of the Lebanese parliamentary majority from the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, al-Akhbar daily reported on Thursday.

The newspaper said that Nasrallah visited Damascus around 10 days ago. Discussions between the two men focused on the regional developments and the March 8 forces’ rejection to fund the STL.

Nasrallah and Assad have agreed to take the most appropriate decision on the issue, it said.

But according to al-Akhbar, Assad “did not mind” to fund the tribunal, saying the stability of Premier Najib Miqati’s cabinet was a priority.

His stance comes amid fears that Miqati’s government would collapse if the March 8 forces reject to pay Lebanon’s share to the STL. The PM, President Michel Suleiman and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat are in favor of funding the court.

Assad also stressed to Nasrallah that the protection of the resistance which is being targeted by Western countries is a priority, al-Akhbar said.

But the Hizbullah chief stressed to the Syrian president that his rejection to fund the STL was “a matter of principle linked to the resistance.” The court has indicted four Hizbullah members in the case of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination.

Assad then told Nasrallah that he wouldn’t want to interfere in the issue which he considered as internal, saying he would leave it for Hizbullah to take the appropriate decision, al-Akhbar said.


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