BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora denied over the weekend any disagreement with Dar al-Fatwa and responded to Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s Friday speech.

Following a closed-door meeting with Prime Minister Najib Mikati at Dar al-Fatwa Saturday, Siniora, the head of the Future Movement parliamentary bloc, denied there was any disagreement between his party and Dar Al-Fatwa, headed by Grand Mufti Mohammad Rashid Qabbani.

Reports of a rift between the Future Movement and Qabbani emerged after the mufti received a Hezbollah delegation on the same day that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon issued its indictment accusing four Hezbollah members of involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who founded the Lebanese party now led by his son former Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

Siniora’s discussions with Mikati took place on the sidelines of a meeting by the Higher Islamic Council headed by Qabbani.

Siniora also touched on remarks by Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, who said Friday that Siniora, through his suggestion UNESCO be financed by alternative sources given the withdrawal of U.S. funding, had provided a model that could be applied toward the issue of funding the controversial STL.

“We did not put forward a proposal on the matter on UNESCO but it was merely an expression of disagreement on the position of the United States in relation to the suspension of its assistance to ESCWA,” Siniora told reporters at Dar al-Fatwa.

The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization was plunged into financial crisis in October when Washington cut off its 22 percent support after the international organization granted the Palestinians full membership status.

In a clear response to Nasrallah, Siniora also said attempts to link the issues of UNESCO and funding for the U.N.-backed court were “out of place,” as the court “deals with Lebanon’s need to abide by its obligations and cooperate with the [court] in order to uphold justice.”