BEIRUT: Prime Minister Najib Mikati has expressed hope that Syrian President Bashar Assad will implement promised reforms, and said that the new Lebanese government will deal with Syrian refugees fleeing into Lebanon from a humanitarian, and not political, perspective.

“I hope President Bashar Assad will implement the pledged reforms, so stability will return to Syria” Mikati told the Arabic satellite channel Al-Arabiya in an interview Thursday evening.

On the issue of Syrian refugees who have fled the crackdown into Lebanon, Mikati said that his government “will look at the issue of Syrian refugees … from a purely humanitarian angle, away from politics.”

Regarding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Mikati said that if it were what the people of the country wanted, the new government would reject U.N. Security Council resolutions concerning the court.

However, the prime minister also said that without a national consensus on the issue he would stick to the position of previous governments. The last government, of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, was committed to both U.N. Resolution 1757, which lays out the protocol for the relationship between the Lebanese government and the STL, and Resolution 1701.

“If there were no Lebanese consensus on a particular decision, I will continue to carry on the commitments made by the previous governments,” he said.

“I will continue to respect international resolutions until an agreement is issued otherwise by the [all-party] national dialogue,” Mikati added.

When asked about the disarmament of Hezbollah, Mikati said Hezbollah arms will be discussed during the all-party national dialogue, but added that weapons should be removed from cities.

Mikati’s ally, State Minister Ahmad Karami, however, said Friday that Lebanon cannot stop the STL.

“Lebanon cannot stop the international tribunal which has been approved under a U.N. Security Council resolution,” Karami said in an interview with a local radio station.

“This is out of the question," he said.

Karami described as “normal” a campaign launched by the new opposition – the Future Movement-led March 14 coalition – to confront the new government.

“Any peaceful opposition that protects the democratic life in the country is welcomed,” Karami added.