Berri Says Lebanon has Enough Time to Fund STL, Timeframe Ends in March

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Tuesday that officials should deal wisely with the funding of the Special Tribunal of Lebanon probing the assassination of ex-Prime minister Rafik Hariri since the timeframe ends at the beginning of March.

“There’s no reason for us to rush with the STL issue,” Berri said in remarks to As Safir newspaper.

He noted that officials should not hesitate and take their time in deciding on Lebanon’s payment of its dues “in order to avoid any mistake.”

“The timeframe that was set is just to pressure Lebanon… There is no specific timeframe that we should commit to. The cabinet of ex-PM Saad Hariri didn’t even commit to a specific timeframe to pay Lebanon’s dues,” Berri said.

The speaker said that Lebanon has until March 2012 to pay Lebanon’s share “and not until the end of November, as some assume.”

“We only received a message from the United Nations demanding Lebanon to comment on the increase in the funding percentage due to the variation of the Euro exchange rate,” Berri added.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati had received at the end of September a message from U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon requesting Lebanon to pay its $33 million dues.

Miqati and President Michel Suleiman have continuously voiced their commitment to the funding of the STL.

However, Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ruled out that his party will support the funding, stating that if the cabinet failed to reach consensus on the matter, then it should be submitted to a vote at the parliament.

The STL had issued arrest warrants against four Hizbullah members, accusing them of being involved in Hariri’s February 2005 murder.