STL Clause Stirs Controversy as Hizbullah, FPM Suggest Replacing it with ‘Justice and Truth’
The controversial issue of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon could be discussed at the national dialogue table if Premier Najib Miqati failed to agree with Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement on how to include a clause on the court in the cabinet’s draft policy statement.
The 12-member ministerial committee that met under Miqati at the Grand Serail on Wednesday did not discuss the tribunal issue but al-Liwaa daily said that the representatives of Hizbullah and FPM chief Michel Aoun have stressed to the premier their rejection to mention the STL in the policy statement.
According to al-Liwaa, the delegates informed Miqati that Saad Hariri’s national unity cabinet was toppled in January due to the bickering between the March 8 and 14 forces on the court. “That’s why, the government that came after it should not adopt a clause that led to the collapse of the (previous) cabinet.”
The representatives of Hizbullah and Aoun suggested to Miqati to replace the name of the international tribunal in the policy statement with “justice and the truth” in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 2005 assassination, the newspaper added.
The differences between Miqati on one side and Hizbullah and the FPM on the other, forced the prime minister to leave the tribunal clause outside the draft policy statement that he suggested to the committee on Wednesday.
Al-Liwaa did not rule out the possibility to discuss the controversial issue at the national dialogue table although the dialogue commission had approved the tribunal clause in one of the first meetings it held in 2006.
But a minister, who refused to be identified, expected in remarks to As Safir daily that the STL clause to be drafted in a way that “wouldn’t antagonize the international community and wouldn’t provoke any local party.”
High-ranking ministerial sources also told An Nahar newspaper that the tribunal clause would be the last item to be discussed by the committee, pending consultations and a possible deal among the majority forces.
They stressed, however, that the majority of cabinet members believe that Lebanon should remain committed to international resolutions particularly after foreign diplomats stressed to Miqati the importance of Lebanon’s commitment to the international tribunal.
Miqati also believes that the government should not disregard the STL in its policy statement in view of current international developments.
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