The blast that took place in the Rouwais area in Beirut’s southern suburbs was targeting former detainee in Israeli jail, Samir al-Qontar, revealed the daily An Nahar on Sunday from official security information.

It noted that the blast, which Hizbullah’s media department said was caused by the explosion of a gas canister, erupted in the neighborhood where the former prisoner lives.

Head of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Defense Office Francois Roux stated that nothing is off limits in defending suspects in the trial of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, saying that their lawyers can bring up any matter related to the case, especially regarding the legitimacy of the court and the prosecutor’s evidence.

He noted however to the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper in remarks published on Sunday that the transparency of the court should not be questioned at the moment because it hasn’t conducted its judicial work yet.

Hizbullah denied on Saturday reports about casualties taking place in a gas canister explosion in the Rouwais neighborhood of Beirut’s southern suburbs a day earlier.

“No one was injured in the blast, but only material damage was incurred,” Hizbullah’s media relations department said in a statement.

Sources close to Hizbullah have accused the Special Tribunal for Lebanon of seeking to ignite the situation in Lebanon and did not rule out the release of new names in the indictment in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s murder case to create instability in the country.

The sources told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat that Pre-trial judge Daniel Fransen ordered confidentiality around the charges against Salim Ayyash, 47, Mustafa Badreddine, 50, Hussein Oneissi, 37 and Assad Sabra, 34, be dropped so that he can serve the United States.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen’s decision to lift the confidentiality on the full names and aliases, biographical information, photographs and charges against the individuals named in the indictment “has been taken to increase the likelihood of apprehending the accused in case any of them is seen by the public,” STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare said Friday, hours after Fransen’s ruling was announced.

“The Prosecutor reiterates that the named individuals are innocent until the Tribunal has reached a final verdict after the completion of the trial and any appeals,” the Office of the Prosecutor said in a statement.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Pre-trial judge Daniel Fransen ordered the lifting of confidentiality on the full names and aliases, biographical information, photographs and charges against the Hizbullah members named in last month’s indictment, the STL said in a statement on Friday.

The four individuals named in the June 28 indictment in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 2005 assassination are Salim Jamil Ayyash, Mustafa Amine Badreddine, Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Assad Hassan Sabra, said the STL.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea accused on Friday Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah of abusing power, slamming his recent speech in which he declared that the party will exploit the gas and oil wealth of any side that exploit’s Lebanon’s.

He said during a press conference on Lebanon’s offshore wealth: “We cannot remain silent over such a dangerous announcement.”

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday extended a freeze of assets on persons “threatening stability in Lebanon.”

A White House statement, extending the freeze imposed in 2007, said that "certain ongoing activities, such as continuing arms transfers to Hizbullah that include increasingly sophisticated weapons systems, serve to undermine Lebanese sovereignty."

President Michel Suleiman’s attempt to come up with an agenda for the national dialogue is becoming complicated as he moves to his summer residence in Beiteddine next week and as both the March 8 and 14 forces hold onto their stances.

Informed sources ruled out that Suleiman could put the agenda of the dialogue that he intends to hold during Ramadan. The president will move to Beiteddine on August 3 and will hold consultations there during his three-week stay to mull the viewpoints of political leaders on his invitation for dialogue, the sources told An Nahar daily.

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel on Wednesday stressed that “land is as important as dignity and sovereignty,” warning that “persistence in the seizure of others’ property” might lead to “civil strife.”

Maronite “Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has made a lauded initiative and we support him in his bid to solve the dispute over land owned by the church,” Gemayel said during a visit to the Jbeil District town of al-Ghabat, which borders the predominantly Shiite town of Lassa – the scene of recent controversy over property rights between locals and the Maronite Patriarchate.