Ban Asks for Lebanon’s Comments on STL Renewal, Miqati Denies Cabinet Crisis Linked to Protocol

The Presidency and the Foreign Ministry received a letter from United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon inquiring if Lebanon had any comments on the renewal of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon cooperation protocol, local newspapers reported on Monday.

Ban revealed that he is willing to renew the court’s mandate for further three years, An Nahar newspaper reported.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati confirmed that he received the U.N. chief’s letter, stressing that there are “ongoing discussions over the issue, knowing that our opinion is only for consultation.”

He denied that his decision to suspend the cabinet sessions is linked to the renewal of the tribunal’s protocol as a solution to avoid any disputes with the Hizbullah-led cabinet members, according to As Safir.

Miqati and the ministers of MP Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement ministers have bickered over the premier’s decision to appoint top civil servants in state posts reserved for Christians without consulting them.

The rift had widened during the PM’s visit to Paris last week as Miqati called on the ministers that don’t want to abide by the cabinet’s decision to resign while Aoun slammed the premier’s statements calling on him to quit.

The STL had released arrest warrants against four Hizbullah members, accusing them of being involved in ex-PM Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 2005 murder.

The party has continuously dismissed the court as a U.S.-Israeli conspiracy and its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has vowed that no party members wanted by the STL will ever be found.

Lebanon's mandate with the U.N. as concerns the STL expires at the end of February. Under the protocol establishing the STL, the mandate may be renewed without Lebanese approval if the court has not completed its work.