National Struggle Front Ministers Threaten to Resign if STL wasn’t Funded

National Struggle Front ministers will resign from the cabinet if the government refused to fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, a minister from the bloc told An Nahar daily.

“Whether (Prime Minister Najib) Miqati resigned or not, the National Struggle Front ministers will resign from the cabinet if the funding of the STL wasn’t approved,” the minister, who is loyal to National Struggle Front leader MP Walid Jumblat, told the daily.

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

The minister said that the cabinet session scheduled for November 30 will clear the stances towards the STL.

“The Prime Minister has no choice but to resign if the funding wasn’t approved,” the minister said.

MP Akram Shehayeb, loyal to MP Jumblat’s parliamentary bloc, told Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) that the National Struggle Front and the Progressive Socialist Party on the STL consider the STL crucial to stop the assassinations bid in Lebanon.

The funding of the STL has deepened the rift between the March 8-dominated government and the March 14-led opposition.

Although Miqati has continuously voiced his commitment to paying Lebanon’s dues, Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has openly opposed Lebanon paying its annual share.