Change and Reform Bloc MP Michel Aoun on Friday renewed his refusal to fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, asking all those who fear their foreign interests to "leave the government."

During the Free Patriotic Movement's dinner ceremony in Jbeil district, Aoun said that "we refuse and will keep on refusing what the STL demands from Lebanon since it is not right to always submit to foreign interests," adding that "they cannot impose on Lebanon what they want and I am ready again to risk myself rather than risking Lebanon."

National Struggle Front ministers will resign from the cabinet if the government refused to fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, a minister from the bloc told An Nahar daily.

“Whether (Prime Minister Najib) Miqati resigned or not, the National Struggle Front ministers will resign from the cabinet if the funding of the STL wasn’t approved,” the minister, who is loyal to National Struggle Front leader MP Walid Jumblat, told the daily.

Head of the Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc, former premier Fouad Saniora, warned Monday that “those who disavow the Special Tribunal for Lebanon would be exposing Lebanon to danger.”

In an interview on MTV, Saniora said “financing is one of the aspects of dealing with the tribunal, but respecting the protocol signed between the Lebanese state and the STL is what’s important.”

Some 150 Lebanese and Syrian protesters gathered in the northern city of Tripoli Friday to demand Syria's President Bashar al-Assad step down and warning his Lebanese ally, Hizbullah, that it would be next.

Chanting "Down with Bashar al-Assad" and "Your turn is next, Hizbullah," they gathered outside the local Qubba mosque before making their way through the densely populated city.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Thursday that the cabinet is working on reviving the dialogue among the Lebanese political foes in order to consolidate the national unity.

“The cabinet is prioritizing the national dialogue,” Miqati said at the opening of the Lebanese Economic Forum held at the Coral Beach Hotel in Beirut.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri stressed on Wednesday that only Israel, Iran and Hizbullah along with the current government are defending the Syrian regime, reiterating his call on President Bashar Assad to leave power.

“Don't you see that now Israel and Iran and Hizbullah and this government are defending the Syrian regime?” Hariri said on the social networking website twitter.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati reiterated Tuesday that “the stance recently taken by Lebanon at the Arab foreign ministers meeting on Syria is aimed first and last at protecting domestic stability in Lebanon.”

During a cabinet session he headed at the Grand Serail, Miqati stressed that “Lebanon will remain interactive with its Arab surrounding and part of the Arab world,” noting that “Lebanon’s vote at the Arab League stemmed from historical and geographic considerations that take into consideration the Lebanese sensitivities of which our Arab brother are aware.”

Prime Minister Najib Miqati confirmed to his predecessor PM Saad Hariri that he supports the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, An Nahar newspaper reported on Thursday.

“I announced it from day one, and I insist on my position,” Miqati informed Hariri on different occasions by sending him messages via different mediators, the daily said.

Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh on Thursday announced his rejection of a possible rise to power by Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood, saying “I cannot accept those who believe that it is permissible to spill my blood.”

In an interview on LBC television, Franjieh revealed that ex-PM Saad Hariri had allegedly told him Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was “totally innocent” of his father’s 2005 assassination and that “the Iranians were behind the assassination” of former premier Rafik Hariri.

A Lebanese security source revealed that Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali’s statements on the abduction of Syrian opposition members in Lebanon does not mean that he and his embassy may not be directly responsible for the kidnapping of the Jassem brothers and Shebli al-Aisamy.

The source told the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper in remarks published on Sunday that Internal Security Forces chief Ashraf Rifi’s statements on the matter “are accurate and they are based on damning facts and evidence.”