Aoun on STL Funding: We are Open to Any Solution that Preserves Lebanon’s Stability
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun criticized on Tuesday the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, deeming it a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty.
He noted after the Change and Reform bloc’s weekly meeting: “There were no binding reasons that required the formation of the STL under chapter seven of the U.N. Charter.”
“We support any solution that preserves the country’s stability,” he added.
“Given the choice between internal stability and external dangers, we chose the former,” Aoun remarked.
“Everyone knows that the STL is illegal and we will leave this issue up for cabinet to settle,” he stated.
He instead asked: “Does anyone know why Premier Najib Miqati threatened to quit over the failure to fund the STL?”
“Contentious issues cannot be resolved this way, but they should be handled through dialogue,” stressed Aoun.
The MP denied that the Change and Reform ministers had threatened to resign from government over the issue of funding the tribunal.
In addition, the FPM leader noted: “We informed U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon that the funding is closely linked to legal matters and we were the first who demanded that the tribunal be given international characteristics.”
“We still believe it can be set up according to the Lebanese constitution,” he asserted.
The funding of the STL has deepened the divisions between the March 8 and 14 political camps with the former opposing the funding and the latter warning that the government’s failure to abide by international resolutions would result in sanctions against Lebanon.
Aoun had adamantly rejected the funding of the tribunal, demanding that Miqati step down “if he was worried about his external investments.”
He had also told the premier that if he was so insistent on funding the STL, he should do it out of his own pocket.
On Monday, U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly had repeated her country’s warning that Lebanon may face “serious consequences” if it did not commit to international obligations.
Aoun slammed these warnings, describing them as “illegal, exactly like the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.”
Lebanon is required to provide 49 percent of the tribunal budget.
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