Berri, Miqati Seek to Solve Tribunal Funding

Speaker Nabih Berri and Premier Najib Miqati have discussed ways to pay Lebanon’s share of the funding for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, a ministerial source said.

The source told al-Liwaa newspaper that part of the discussions held between top officials on Wednesday, including talks between Berri and Miqati, lied on how to meet the STL’s demand.

According to the tribunal's 2007 founding text, Lebanon is responsible for 49 percent of the court's finances. Lebanon’s share this year is $32 million.

The source ruled out putting the share as part of the state budget for 2012 because the operation needs five to six months saying there is a tendency to take an advance from the treasury.

An Nahar daily said Thursday that although the cabinet overcame the crisis of the electricity project, it now faces the other major test of the STL funding.