Wikileaks: Aoun wanted to protect STL

Al-Mustaqbal daily reported Thursday that a U.S. embassy cable leaked by WikiLeaks on September 18th 2006 said that Change and Reform Bloc Leader MP Michel Aoun had accused Hezbollah of inciting division in the cabinet and seeking a wider representation in the new government.    

The cable quoted Aoun as saying that he does not oppose the establishment of a Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). According to the same cable, Aoun had vowed not to hinder the STL establishment should he come to power, claiming that he was the first to call for its formation.   

The cable also shed light on a meeting Aoun held with Energy Minister Jibran Bassil and former U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman where Bassil  denied that Hezbollah had offered a sum of money to Aoun’s party in order to be distributed to Christians suffering from the damaging impacts of the Israeli war. Bassil added that Hezbollah had distributed the reconstruction money to different sects in southern Lebanon and not only the Shia sect.