BEIRUT: Failure to fund the United Nations-backed court investigating the assassination of statesman Rafik Hariri would be “a gift” to Lebanon’s enemies, Britain’s new ambassador to Beirut said Wednesday.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Daily Star, Ambassador Tom Fletcher also addressed concerns posed by Syria’s six-month uprising and described Britain’s policy of conducting no official contact with Hezbollah as “under review.”

With Cabinet currently in stalemate over funding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon – as required under international law – Fletcher said that not providing financial assistance to the court would undermine attempts to build global trust in Lebanon.

“It would send an incredibly negative signal,” he said. “There are a lot of us out there at the moment fighting for Lebanon’s reputation, saying that this is somewhere to come and invest, that this is a government we can work with. All of us who believe in Lebanon’s potential would find it much harder to make that case to the more skeptical parts of international opinion if Lebanon was to turn around and reject the tribunal.”

In reference to speeches made to the U.N. General Assembly in New York, notably that of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who claimed Lebanon’s Security Council presidency was akin to having Hezbollah run the U.N., Fletcher added: “There are countries who want to present Lebanon as moving away from the international community, moving further toward Iran, moving away from Lebanon’s core values, and not funding the tribunal would be a gift to those people.”

Lebanon has failed to provide the STL with 49 percent – around $32 million – of its running costs in 2011, a commitment it promised to uphold in Resolution 1757, signed in 2007. The mainly March 8 Cabinet is predominantly hostile to the tribunal, with some political leaders calling for a Lebanese boycott.

Court sources disclosed that other donor countries have taken up the slack in lieu of Lebanon’s contribution. Britain, which has already provided millions of dollars, will remain a major STL donor, according to Fletcher.

“We funded the tribunal because we believe in international justice,” he said. “We want the people who carried out the assassinations to face that justice. Our funding will continue because our commitment is not diminishing, but we do think it’s important that Lebanon plays its part as well.”

Fletcher, who served as a foreign policy advisor for successive British governments, said that the U.K. supported the rights of Syria’s protestors, to the extent that Tuesday’s failed Security Council Resolution was partly championed by Westminster. He added that regime change in Damascus could have potentially disruptive ramifications for stability in Beirut.

“There are threats that the transition presents for all of us here in Lebanon because of the interconnectedness of the two societies,” he said. “Of course, Syria is going to remain the most significant international country for Lebanon, but that’s as it should be. We can and we must do what we can to protect the Lebanese space from what is happening across the border.”

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly called this week for greater protection for opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s administration currently residing in Lebanon, something the British ambassador said he supported.

“The key thing is that Lebanon takes a neutral role [regarding Syria],” he said. “I think [officials] have an obligation – and it’s in line with Lebanese values and Lebanese history – that they would always protect the rights of all people to interact, to have those freedoms. And, obviously, I would join the American ambassador in hoping that would be the case.”

Fletcher acknowledged that an upheaval in Syria would worry its allies in Lebanon, but was insistent that regional change posed more opportunities than dangers for lawmakers in Beirut.

“This transition in Syria should allow Lebanese leaders – and I don’t just mean the ones who are traditionally associated with Western countries, but Lebanese leaders from right across the spectrum – to step up and to articulate a more Lebanese nationalist position,” he added.

Fletcher himself is a strong advocate of electoral reform, currently being discussed between government representatives and civil society groups. He insisted that the adoption of certain voting law changes, such as lowering the voting age to 18, would help democracy in Lebanon advance in line with other countries in the wake of 2011’s Arab Spring.

“I think one of the lessons of the Arab Spring more widely is that you need to empower and involve youth movements or you will find that they are in the street,” the ambassador said, adding that political sectarianism should not predominate Lebanese politics “forever more.”

Britain has long eschewed official contact with Hezbollah, which it added to its list of designated terrorist organizations in 2008. Fletcher expressed his hope that the party would prove its political credentials through reform and adherence to Lebanon’s international commitments, and in turn pave the way for dialogue with the U.K.

“From our experience in Northern Ireland – and I was the [Prime Minister’s] Northern Ireland adviser for four years – we understand that you have to talk to people even when you disagree with them and that you need to find a way to bring groups into the political process, because that’s the best way to settle differences,” he said.

“I would very much hope that there will be a scenario where progress has been made on reform, on fulfillment of international obligations, and in choosing a Lebanese path of dialogue – rather of confrontation and violence – that justifies contact in the future,” Fletcher added.

“We don’t say never. But we do hope that Hezbollah will take the right decisions,” he said.