Lebanon ends political stalemate over funding for Hariri tribunal

Nov 30, 2011, 13:26 GMT

Beirut - Prime Minister Nagib Mikati said Wednesday that Lebanon had paid its annual share of funding for a UN tribunal investigating the assassination of ex-premier Rafik Hariri, ending a political crisis that threatened to topple his government.

'I have transferred this morning Lebanon's share of funding to the tribunal out of my keenness to protect Lebanon,' Mikati told reporters.

The tribunal has been a divisive topic in the country, with the Shiite Hezbollah movement, a key partner in the Mikati-led coalition government, consistently opposing funding for the court, which has indicted four Hezbollah members over Hariri's killing.

Iran-backed Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the 2005 bombing that killed Hariri, a Sunni Muslim billionaire backed by Saudi Arabia. Another 22 people were killed in the blast on the Beirut seafront.

Mikati last week threatened to resign if his coalition partners failed to approved Lebanon's share of funding for the United Nations Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which was established in 2007.

'Our obligation to achieve justice makes us more committed to the STL as long as that the tribunal is not biased and does not politicize the probe,' Mikati said.

Lebanon is responsible for 49 percent of the STL's financing, which amounted to some 32 million dollars this year.

Read more about UN