PM Najib
Mikati vowed to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon that the Lebanese cabinet
will pay its full share of the STL’s budget during an undeclared meeting held
on the sidelines of France’s “Friends of Libya” conference, “An-Nahar” daily
reported.
“I have met
with PM Najib Mikati who is a very nice person”, Ban told “An-Nahar” calling on
Lebanon to pay its 49% STL share.
- Kilo: Rai’s
statements illogical and unacceptable
Prominent Syrian opposition figure Michel Kilo told "Acharq al-Awsat" daily that Maronite Patriarch
Beshara Rai has put the Syrian issue in a wrong context in his latest
statements. "His position is illogical and unacceptable", he said.
"The Maronite Patriarch is the leader of a
Christian minority in the Middle East, therefore, he does not speak on behalf
of the Christian community as a whole", Kilo said, adding that "Rai only speaks on
behalf of his [Maronite] Church."
Kilo
said that Patriarch Rai and a large part of Lebanon’s Christian community are
the allies of Sunnis in Lebanon, wondering: "Why are some trying to frighten
the Lebanese Christians from Sunnis in Syria?"
- Martin
Youssef: Bellemare may indict instigators of STL accusations
The
spokesman for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) Martin Youssef told
“al-Mustaqbal” newspaper that what matters to the STL is that the Lebanese
authorities fulfill their commitments in cooperation with the Tribunal and take
the necessary steps and measures to search for, arrest and prosecute the 4
accused in the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri.
“The fact
that the STL did not submit the evidence on which the indictment was based
does not mean that they don’t exist”, Youssef said, adding that the STL will
submit all the evidences and proofs when the trial’s proceedings kicks off.
On the
accusations targeted at the STL, Youssef said: “the Tribunal is taking them
seriously and General Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare may issue an indictment
against the instigators of these accusations”.
- Wikileaks:
Aoun does not trust Sleiman
“Al-Mustaqbal”
daily published a leaked cable issued by the U.S. embassy in Beirut on
07/1/2008 and published on “Wikileaks” website as cable number 24. The cable
revealed that “Change and Reform bloc” leader MP Michel Aoun has gone too far
in his plan to hinder the election of President Michel Sleiman using the
opposition’s demands to cripple the majority.
According to the cable,
Aoun claimed he was doing so to “protect” Sleiman from a majority that will
turn against him at any dispute.
Despite his “defending-Sleiman” position, Aoun said during a
meeting with the U.S. ambassador then Jeffrey Feltman on November 4th,
2008: “I trust no one”, when the ambassador asked him on the reason why he does
not trust President Sleiman.
Aoun explained “if the opposition does not get the blocking
third, and if March 14 coalition manages to convince Sleiman, after his
election, of standing by his ministers in the cabinet, the opposition will be
left out of the legislative process”.
For his part, Feltman said that Aoun did not support the
election of Sleiman because “if he cannot become president, he will do anything
to make sure no one else can”.
Also according to the leaked cable, Aoun downplayed the
speech delivered by Hizbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on
November 2nd, 2008, when he said “I do not believe him when he says
that the U.S. is planning on building military bases in Lebanon”, in a clear
attempt to appeal to the U.S. government.
Aoun elaborated
further to the point where he renounced being Hizbollah’s ally, calling on
March 14 coalition to separate between his party and Hizbollah. “If the
majority does not make the distinction between them [Hizbollah] and us, it will
always fear us, prompting us eventually to get closer to Hizbollah”.