A YouTube video uploaded on Sunday showed Hussam Hussam -- who has claimed to be a witness in the 2005 assassination of ex-PM Rafik Hariri – in the custody of a group of Syrian rebels.

The group said it was part of the “brigades” that “stormed” the Syrian capital Damascus.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon spokesman Marten Youssef hailed on Friday a decision by an STL judge to set March 25 as the tentative date to start the trial in absentia of four suspects and stressed new evidence should be provided to ask for a change in that date.

In remarks to al-Joumhouria daily, Youssef said Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen’s decision “is a unique opportunity for the international tribunal and the Lebanese people and is an important step on the road to trials.”

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen issued on Thursday an order setting March 25, 2013 as a tentative date for trial to start in the Ayyash et al case, announced the tribunal in a statement.

“The order provides the parties and the victims' legal representatives with a concrete starting date allowing them to continue preparing for trial,” explained the statement.

The cabinet withdrew on Wednesday the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon article from the 2012 draft state budget.

The government members agreed to fund the STL from outside the state budget.

The Palestinians want an international probe into the death of former president Yasser Arafat after an investigation showed he may have been poisoned, an official told Agence France Presse Wednesday.

"We call for the formation of an international investigation committee modeled on the international investigation committee set up to look into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri," senior Palestinian official Saeb Erakat said.

“Malaysia's longest-serving Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has been named the recipient of 2012 Rafik Hariri U.N.-Habitat Memorial award, recognizing leadership, statesmanship and good governance, a press release said Tuesday.

The Award’s steering committee announced the winner on Monday in Paris after an international jury selected Mohamad over 13 other nominations from Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, United States, Canada, El Salvador, Nicaragua, India, Bangladesh, UK, Japan and the Philippines.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Norman Farrell submitted to the Trial Chamber a document revealing that the Lebanese authorities didn’t find any death certificates for the four suspects in the 2005 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri.

“The prosecution asked the competent Lebanese authorities on May 25 to present any document, including death certificates, for any of the four accused,” Farrell said, according to An Nahar newspaper published on Wednesday.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s Trial Chamber held a hearing on Wednesday on defense motions challenging the jurisdiction of the court.

The defense teams for the four Hizbullah members indicted in the 2005 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri filed the separate motions last month although their arguments overlap.

The lead legal representative and the two co-legal representatives designated by the Registrar of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to represent the victims of the February 14, 2005 attack have been sworn in, the STL announced in a statement issued on Tuesday.

The three legal representatives will represent the 58 people who were granted the right to participate as victims in the proceedings by the Pre-Trial judge.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon spokesman Marten Youssef said that several sessions will be held in June between the prosecution and the defense offices, reported An Nahar on Tuesday.

In the past five months the tribunal witnessed excessive activity, Youssef told the daily.