BEIRUT: Britain seeks to protect Lebanon’s lucrative banking sector from sanctions against Syria, Britain’s ambassador to Lebanon said, adding that the country should be prepared for the worst if the government fails to fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

“We recognize that the Lebanese economy depends largely on the banking sector and that Lebanon and Syria are close partners,” Tom Fletcher told An-Nahar in an interview published Tuesday.

“We hope that the Lebanese economy can separate itself from sanctions on the Syrian economy and the best way to protect the Lebanese economy is by urging Lebanese companies to do so.”

There have been fears that sanctions targeting Syrian financial institutions could spill over into Lebanon, which has close links with its neighboring country. In August a Beirut-based arm of a Syria’s Commercial Bank of Syria was added to a list of U.S. sanctions targets.

Fletcher also said that he has held meetings with Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh during which the two discussed ways to assure the international community that Lebanon is safe from sanctions. Fletcher said there is a general understanding that it would be a disaster to take measures that would harm the Lebanese economy.

"There is a risk that some parties such as Israel could portray Lebanon as part of Syria and Hezbollah, and use that to hit the Lebanese economy,” Fletcher said. “And perhaps in the future, [that could be used] as a pretext for other steps. This shows the importance of showing things are more complicated than they look from the outside, and that Hezbollah is part of the government, but it does not run the country.”

As part of a three-part plan to ensure stability in Lebanon, Britain has said it intends to work to protect Lebanon’s financial sector from mounting sanctions on Syria, although it has not explained its methods for doing so in detail.

Fletcher also said that failing to pay Lebanon’s $32 million share of the court’s budget would be a bad sign, hinting that direct sanctions on Lebanon could be a possibility.

“[Failure to fund] would be a bad sign. In any case, we have to work with all the possibilities and prepare for the worst. We held talks at the European level last week about this and we should be ready for any way out,” he said.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati and President Michel Sleiman have repeatedly assured the international community that the government will pay the funding, but such a commitment is threatened by the opposition of Hezbollah and its allies, who hold a majority in the Cabinet.

During the interview, Fletcher spoke about the three-part action plan, which includes increasing British training of the Lebanese Army and security forces and backing reforms. He said Britain recognizes that some of the aid could end up with Hezbollah, according to An-Nahar.

“The armed forces cannot gain respect if their efficiency and strategic abilities are not strengthened. We hope to reach [that point] especially by building this kind of cooperation,” Fletcher said.

“Hezbollah itself has an interest in stability and in the ability of the security forces to do their job ... while the officials themselves in the army and security forces need to [help] Hezbollah adapt to being part of the process,” he added.

Asked whether this would pave the way for a national defense strategy, Fletcher said: “It is up to the Lebanese, I strongly would like to see this national strategy, but it is part of the political process.”

Some Lebanese lawmakers have urged the government to create a national defense strategy that would absorb Hezbollah’s arsenal, while Hezbollah has maintained that the tripartite formula of “the people, the army, and the resistance” is the only means to fend off Israeli aggression.