Change and Reform bloc ministers, loyal to Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, are threatening to resign from the cabinet over the alleged bad performance of the government.

“The FPM considers that the approach of the cabinet regarding a number of issues is close to the performance of the previous government led by (ex-PM Saad) Hariri,” sources close to MP Michel Aoun told As Safir on Friday.

The majority of the 30-member cabinet ministers would support the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon if the issue was put up to vote during a session scheduled to be held next Wednesday, informed sources said.

The sources told al-Liwaa daily published Friday that if President Michel Suleiman decided to put the funding issue to vote, 16 or 17 ministers would vote in favor of paying Lebanon’s 49 percent share to the tribunal.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has expressed readiness to hold talks with Premier Najib Miqati after confirming to him that Lebanon would fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

In remarks to al-Arabiya Arab TV network on Thursday, Juppe said: “We have previously met in September and he (Miqati) confirmed to me back then that the necessary measures to fund (the STL) will be made.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has described the situation in Lebanon and the crisis on the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon as an “open bazaar over strange things.”

When asked by As Safir daily to comment about the situation, Jumblat, who is currently in Brussels, said he prefers to stay away from Lebanese politics and its “absurdities.”

Speaker Nabih Berri is seeking consensus on the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon through contacts with President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati in coordination with the March 8 leadership, As Safir newspaper reported on Friday.

The report said that Berri’s ongoing contacts with Suleiman and Miqati is to convince them to withdraw the issue of the STL from the cabinet discussions, for the time being.

The March 14 forces are preparing a document to tackle Hizbullah’s presence in Lebanon after the fall of the Syrian regime, reported Akhbar al-Yawm news agency on Thursday.

March 14 sources told the news agency that the forces are preparing for a Hizbullah that has laid down its arms, adding that their line of action will become clearer after Sunday’s Mustaqbal movement rally in Tripoli.

United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon ad interim, Robert Watkins, held talks on Thursday with President Michel Suleiman and former Prime Minister Fouad Saniora on the implementation of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701.

Watkins briefed Suleiman on U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s latest report on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701, which was submitted to the members of the Security Council on November 15.

Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is scheduled to make a televised appearance on Saturday marking the first day of Ashura during which he will renew the party’s rejection of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

He is also expected to address the alleged Central Intelligence Agency spy network in Beirut, revealed a source close to Hizbullah to Akhbar al-Yawm news agency on Thursday.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri held talks on Thursday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

The two officials discussed the latest developments, especially those related to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and regional affairs.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon President Sir Judge David Baragwanath continued his trip to Lebanon on Thursday by meeting with the British Ambassador Tom Fletcher, after which the ambassador praised the judge for his “vigor in pursuing his responsibilities.”

Fletcher added: “We were encouraged by the commitments made by the Lebanese leadership that Lebanon will meet its international obligations.”