Najib Miqati failed to agree with Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic MovementDespite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic...
on how to include a clause on the court in the cabinet's draft policy statement.
The 12-member ministerial committee that met under Miqati at the Grand Serail on Wednesday did not discuss the tribunal issue but al-Liwaa daily said that the representatives of Hizbullah and FPM chief Michel Aoun
...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah...
have stressed to the premier their rejection to mention the STL in the policy statement.
According to al-Liwaa, the delegates informed Miqati that Saad Hariri
Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's liquidation. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too.
's national unity cabinet was toppled in January due to the bickering between the March 8 and 14 forces on the court. "That's why, the government that came after it should not adopt a clause that led to the collapse of the (previous) cabinet."
The representatives of Hizbullah and Aoun suggested to Miqati to replace the name of the international tribunal in the policy statement with "justice and the truth" in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's Feb. 2005 liquidation, the newspaper added.
The differences between Miqati on one side and Hizbullah and the FPM on the other, forced the prime minister to leave the tribunal clause outside the draft policy statement that he suggested to the committee on Wednesday.
Al-Liwaa did not rule out the possibility to discuss the controversial issue at the national dialogue table although the dialogue commission had approved the tribunal clause in one of the first meetings it held in 2006.
But a minister, who refused to be identified, expected in remarks to As Safir daily that the STL clause to be drafted in a way that "wouldn't antagonize the international community and wouldn't provoke any local party."
High-ranking ministerial sources also told An Nahar newspaper that the tribunal clause would be the last item to be discussed by the committee, pending consultations and a possible deal among the majority forces.
They stressed, however, that the majority of cabinet members believe that Leb should remain committed to international resolutions particularly after foreign diplomats stressed to Miqati the importance of Leb's commitment to the international tribunal.
Miqati also believes that the government should not disregard the STL in its policy statement in view of current international developments.