By Patrick GaleyThe Daily StarBEIRUT: Lebanon may be referred to the United Nations Security Council if it fails to meet the 30-day deadline for paying its share of running costs for the court probing the assassination of statesman Rafik Hariri, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon warned Thursday.A spokesperson for the U.N.-backed court, talking after STL Registrar Herman von Hebel’s Wednesday announcement that Lebanon must pay 49 percent of the tribunal’s running costs, said new president Sir David Baragwanath may choose to report the Lebanese government to New York if it proves uncooperative.

“The president of the STL is responsible for making a determination on Lebanon’s cooperation with the tribunal, in accordance with the STL’s governing rules and regulations,” the spokesperson told The Daily Star. “One of the options the president has in the case of noncooperation is reporting that to the U.N. Security Council.”

Lebanon could face sanctions if it reneges on an agreement it signed with the U.N. to support the court. TURN TO PAGE 10FROM PAGE 1Speaking to reporters in New York late Wednesday, Hebel announced the deadline for Lebanon to provide more than $32 million to The Hague-based tribunal. It was the first time a deadline had been set for funding in 2011. “The time has come for Lebanon to fulfill its financial obligations,” the spokesperson said.

“The STL’s financial rules and regulations require Lebanon to pay its contribution within 30 days of receiving a request from the U.N. Secretary General [Ban Ki Moon].

“This was not possible when the letter was sent in early 2011 as Lebanon had a caretaker Cabinet. Now that the Lebanese government has received another letter from the secretary-general, the registrar is reminding the Lebanese government of its obligations,” he added.

Indications coming from Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s Cabinet suggest that Lebanon will not meet the 30-day deadline, divided as government is over court funding. While Mikati and President Michel Sleiman have stated publicly that Lebanon would provide the STL with financial support, prominent March 8 figures such as Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun have balked at the idea of giving money to a court its opponents view as an Israeli-American conspiracy.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, quoted in media reports Thursday, repeated the stance that his party would never support the STL, regardless of the consequences. “Some are voicing threats that the international community might sanction Lebanon if the funding does not go through, but the international community is not more important than the interest of Lebanon and Lebanese,” Nasrallah was quoted as saying.

Former Prime Minister Omar Karami said he was confident Cabinet would not reach a consensus to pay the STL.

“I have said in the light of what I have heard from officials that the financing will not pass in the Cabinet and also in parliament,” Karami said after talks with ex-Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. “Therefore, I am sure there will be no funding for the tribunal. I don’t know [how] Prime Minister Najib Mikati will honor his pledges and by what means.”

Siniora said the debate over funding had become “an overdue debt for Lebanon.”

“Whatever it is said here and there, it will not change the matter,” he said. “The tribunal has been approved. There are specific articles in it under Chapter Seven [of the U.N. Charter]. This is an international law that is above local laws.”

Former STL President Antonio Cassese stepped aside at the weekend, leaving New Zealand judge Baragwanath at the helm.