The court charged with prosecuting the man behind the murder of the former Lebanese prime minister in 2005 may be closed due to lack of funds.

In view of funding difficulties, Lebanon requested in a letter that the Secretary-General of the United Nations urgently explore ways to provide funding for the Special Lebanese Tribunal (STL) whose mission was to investigate the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab said in a letter on Friday: “The Lebanese government thanks you, the Security Council and member states for urgently exploring different and alternative ways of funding the court.”

An exclusive report by Reuters last week showed that the UN Tribunal established by a UN Security Council resolution in 2007 ran out of funds during the economic and political crisis in Lebanon, threatening plans for future trials.

If the funding shortage is not resolved, 51% of the court is funded by voluntary contributions and 49% by the Lebanese government, and it may be closed after July.

Last year, a court based in The Hague ruled that Salim Jamil Ayyash (Salim Jamil Ayyash) was a former member of the Shiite movement Hezbollah. His bombing caused senior Sunni Muslim politicians Hariri and The other 21 people were killed and tried in absentia. The ruling is being appealed.

The second case was originally scheduled to begin on June 16 and prosecute Ayyash because he again assassinated and attacked Lebanese politicians between 2004 and 2005.

But on Thursday, due to the expected closure, the court judge cancelled the new trial.

Lebanon is in the throes of a severe financial crisis that threatens its stability.

The crisis that broke out at the end of 2019 destroyed jobs, kept more than half of the population below the poverty line, and eroded about 90% of the value of money.

Rafik Hariri’s son Saad Hariri is now the prime minister-designate of Lebanon, but he has been unable to reach an agreement with President Michel Aoun on the cabinet to make the country It has been politically paralyzed since last year.

“Although we reiterate our unwavering commitment to STL, we firmly believe that these financial difficulties should not prevent it from completing its work to the end,” Diab said.