Prime Minister Najib Miqati agreed with Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on funding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri, al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Wednesday.

“The STL will be funded under any circumstance,” sources close to Jumblat told the daily.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat denied that he has asked to meet with Syria President Bashar Assad although informed sources said that Damascus froze its ties with the PSP chief.

In remarks to reporters on Tuesday, Jumblat said he hasn’t asked for a meeting with Assad or Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stressed Tuesday that his latest stances are not signs of a new political “realignment,” denying that he has requested to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

Following talks with visiting Russian presidential envoy Mikhail Margelov, Jumblat said: “What I have said is not a realignment, it is only a reminder of what was agreed around the national dialogue table. It is beneficial for one to remember things every now and then.”

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil stated on Monday that the prime minister cannot keep on covering up state employee errors over their sectarian affiliations.

He told MTV: “We have an opportunity to achieve issues we had never done before, but forgiving mistakes will not lead to the government’s success.”

Relations between Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat and Hizbullah seem to be reaching an all-time low after the Shiite party’s al-Manar TV station slammed the Druze leader for criticizing Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

Al-Manar said in reference to Jumblat in its newscast on Monday that some officials remain steadfast in their stances while others tend to swing to adjust to the “regional winds.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Monday noted that the latest “fear-inciting remarks on the rise of Salafist or fundamentalist (Islamist) movements … are being used as a ‘scarecrow’.”

“These remarks remind us of the old-new approach that calls for an alliance of minorities” in the region, Jumblat said, adding that such an approach “has destroyed Lebanon.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat expressed fear that the political disputes between the cabinet members might occur at every crossroads, especially with the imminent discussions of the administrative appointments.

He told As Safir newspaper on Monday that his position on the electricity project was merely technical and administrative, and not political.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat reiterated his support for the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, stressing that Hizbullah can prove its innocence in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

He told As Safir newspaper in remarks published on Saturday: “I support its funding especially since a significant number of Lebanese believe that the international court can uncover the truth in the assassination.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat hoped that the electricity draft law would be adopted at parliament without any complications, As Safir newspaper reported on Friday.

“What happened during the cabinet meeting is positive and approving the electricity project is an accomplishment,” he said.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon registrar Hermen von Hebel told the Lebanese officials that the funding of the tribunal isn’t limited to the current cabinet but goes back to the unpaid funds of the previous government and is worth $32 million, An Nahar newspaper reported on Wednesday.

A ministerial source told the daily that the cabinet will fund the STL probing the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri during the given timeframe.