March 6, 2009 - Naharnet - Postpones Discussion of MoU, Forms Follow-up Committee

Cabinet postponed discussion of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon till next week and agreed to form a committee to study the issue.Information Minister Tareq Mitri said on Thursday after the cabinet session that Ministers Mohammed Fneish, Ibrahim Najjar and Khaled Qabbani were tasked with studying the MoU and making proposals for next week's session.The memorandum proposed by the Justice Ministry seeks to regulate relations between the Lebanese judiciary and the STL's general prosecutor.Last week, cabinet delayed the decision to sign the MoU after March 8 cabinet ministers argued that a clause in the draft text of the memorandum would "expose Lebanon and make every Lebanese person subjected to scrutiny." A March 8 minister told the daily An Nahar that the word "local authorities" under the MoU draft "could include all people, starting with the head of state all the way to the last politician." The third clause states that Lebanese authorities guarantee that the office of the tribunals' Attorney General is free from any interference during investigation in Lebanon and that it is provided with the necessary assistance to help its mission succeed. Mitri also told reporters after the cabinet session held at Baabda Palace that President Michel Suleiman accepted an invitation to attend the Arab summit that will be held in Doha on March 29 and the Arab-Latin summit also to be held in the Qatari capital two days later.