March 8 Forces Indecisive about STL Funding, Demand More Time for Discussions

The March 8 forces said that the controversial issue of funding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon requires more discussions, expressing belief that the issue will not be on the cabinet’s agenda during Friday’s session.

The parliamentary majority and the government that is led by the March 8 forces didn’t object on putting the issue to vote at the cabinet, An Nahar newspaper reported on Monday.

Lebanon is responsible for meeting 49 percent of the costs of the U.N.-backed STL, which has charged four Hizbullah members in the February 14, 2005 assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others.

But the government has yet to pay its share, estimated at $33 million for 2011, as international pressure mounts on Prime Minister Najib Miqati to uphold his commitment to the STL.

An Nahar said that if the cabinet members failed to find consensus among each other, then voting will most likely be the solution.

The March 8 sources told the newspaper that if the issue was put up for voting, then the Hizbullah-led forces will guarantee a two-third majority to reject it.

Ministerial sources said in remarks to the daily that it’s still early to enter the voting scenarios before knowing what the results of the ongoing contacts and consultations between Miqati and the March 8 forces will lead to.

However, a high-ranking March 8 official told al-Akhbar newspaper on Monday that Hizbullah has informed Miqati that the party “refuses the funding of the STL under any formula.”

“I have obligations towards the funding of the STL, and I can’t quit them,” the official quoted Miqati as saying.

Asked if the PM will resign in case the cabinet didn’t reach a consensus over the issue, the official said: “Miqati didn’t mention any resignation word … If he resigned he would be hinting that the Syrian regime collapsed and I can’t continue in my post.”

A March 8 minister told al-Akhbar that Hizbullah’s stance on the funding of the STL is obvious; noting that taking the matter to vote at the parliament “hasn’t been discussed yet.”

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has openly opposed Lebanon paying its annual share to the Netherlands-based STL.

He has dismissed the court as a U.S.-Israeli conspiracy against his Iranian-backed party, warning that no member of Hizbullah would ever be found or arrested.