Lebanon's PM-designate Najib Mikati started talks on Thursday on forming a new cabinet as his rivals asked him not to cut ties with a UN court. Outgoing prime minister Saad Hariri's Future Movement said Mikati had been asked to state clearly whether his government would cease cooperation with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). The tribunal is the hub of a dispute between Hariri and Hizbullah which says it will accuse some of its members in the 2005 killing of ex-Premier Rafic al Hariri.
"We asked the prime minister-designate to clarify his position and state it clearly in his policy statement," said MP Fuad Siniora.
Officials from Hariri's party told AFP that once Mikati clarifies his position, the Future Movement and its allies would decide how to deal with the new government. "Mikati's answers will condition our attitude toward his government," one official close to Hariri said.
