Former Premier Saad Hariri said Friday’s attack on a UNIFIL patrol in the southern city of Tyre was “another Syrian message from (President) Bashar” Assad.

Five French peacekeepers were injured when a roadside bomb targeted their vehicle. The incident was seen as a message to Western countries, mainly France, over the pressure exerted on Assad.

The Registrar of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Herman von Hebel stated on Wednesday that predicting the judicial process in the tribunal is “very difficult.”

He expected however that the trial in the case of the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri may begin in 2012.

The controversial false witnesses issue in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 2005 assassination emerged to the surface again after PM Najib Miqati announced paying Lebanon’s dues to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon

“It’s still too early to decide on the issue,” Miqati’s visitors told An Nahar newspaper on Monday.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen is expected to issue an indictment in the assassination attempt of MP Marwan Hamadeh this month, informed sources said.

The sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in remarks published Monday that the indictment will be issued before Christmas.

A cabinet session is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, a week after Premier Najib Miqati announced the postponement of the meeting and the transfer of funds to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Miqati’s sources confirmed to An Nahar daily that the council of ministers will convene on time at Baabda palace. But they rejected to discuss the details of the contacts aimed at convincing the ministers of Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc to end their boycott.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati confirmed on Saturday his commitment to the Islamic principles, issued by Dar al-Fatwa, to safeguard the nation and the Sunni sect that gathers the factions of the Lebanese community.

“The Islamic principles are the basis of Lebanon’s national principles… it aims at saving Lebanon,” Miqati said during a meeting with Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani at the Grand Serail.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon stressed on Thursday that the so-called false witnesses issue was not under its jurisdiction, shortly after Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the government should deal with the file.

Testimony given to the United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission “before the STL existed, is not under our jurisdiction,” the tribunal said on twitter.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon praised on Wednesday Premier Najib Miqati’s announcement that he had transferred Beirut’s share of funding to the court probing the murder of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri.

“We are greatly encouraged by the Lebanese PM's announcement that 2011 contribution to the STL has been transferred to our account,” the court said on twitter.

Speaker Nabih Berri held talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati in Ain el-Tineh on Tuesday to resolve the crisis threatening to collapse the cabinet.

As Safir reported that Berri, in his attempt to find consensus among the cabinet members, was tasked by the Hizbullah leadership in coordination with President Michel Suleiman to contact Miqati to find an acceptable solution by all members.

President Michel Suleiman proposed that Hizbullah not attend Wednesday’s scheduled session so that the cabinet approves the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, al-Liwaa newspaper reported.

The daily said on Monday that Suleiman is exerting efforts to resolve the crisis that is threatening to collapse the cabinet.