BEIRUT: The Association of Banks in Lebanon said Thursday it donated $32 million to the Higher Relief Committee to cover the HCR’s recent payment for Lebanon’s share toward the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

The ABL board “unanimously decided to cover the amount paid by the Higher Relief Committee which is over $32 million to pay Lebanon’s dues toward the international tribunal," the Association said following its monthly meeting held Thursday.

It said the donation was designed to “protect depositors and strengthen internal political stability.”

On Nov.30, Mikati said Lebanon paid its share of the STL. Political sources had said the money came from the Prime Minister's office annual budget and then transferred to the HCR which in turn paid the court.

"Lebanon has paid its contribution to the STL for 2011. The mechanism with which Lebanon fulfilled its international obligation is an internal Lebanese matter," an STL spokesperson told The Daily Star.

A source from ABL told The Daily Star said this is not the first time the association provided financial aid to the Higher Relief Committee.

“We granted financial assistance to the committee in the aftermath of the 2006 war on Lebanon to help the government in the reconstruction efforts,” the source said.

He added that ABL supports all United Nations Security Council resolution and for this reason the money was granted by the committee.

“We contemplated this action about two weeks ago and this was not at the spare of the moment. ABL’s board of directors made the contributions from its own pocket,” the source said.

Privately, bankers say that Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s gesture to pay the $32 million to STL has spared Lebanon international sanctions that could have affected the banking sector.

They feared that any move to penalize the Central Bank will ultimately reflect negatively on the commercial banks.