Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Friday criticized the Lebanese officials for failing to disarm Palestinian groups in Lebanon.

Geagea slammed the officials for “not demanding the removal of Palestinian weapons, in line with (the resolutions of) the national dialogue sessions,” noting that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was keen on that more than Lebanon’s officials.

Hizbullah sources denied on Friday that it had received word that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon had received a memorandum from former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Marwan Dalal confirming Israel’s involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The sources told Akhbar al-Yawm news agency: “This is a new test of the STL’s credibility.”

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri congratulated on Friday the Lebanese people and Muslims in general on the occasion of the Eid al-Adha, stressing the importance of solidarity with the Arab people who are striving for freedom.

He warned, in a statement, against attempts to avoid the implementation of the Arab initiative aimed at ending the Syrian crisis.

The judicial council postponed on Friday the hearing in the case of the 2007 Ain Alaq attack, reported the National News Agency.

It said that the suspects’ hearing will resume on January 13, 2012.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman warned of “consequences” on the U.S.-Lebanese bilateral ties if Beirut refused to fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Feltman told al-Arabiya satellite TV network that Washington will have to take harsh measures if the Lebanese failed to pay their share to the STL that is set to try ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s suspected assassins.

Counsel assigned as duty counsel by the Head of Defense Office Francois Roux met over three days at the headquarters of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon for intensive working sessions, announced the STL in a statement.

They were able to familiarize themselves with the various administrative aspects of the tribunal and to discuss, together with the Defense Office, the different legal questions certain to be asked of the tribunal in the form, in particular, of preliminary motions, it explained.

Efforts to put back a draft law on exceptional allocations for the budget worth LL8.9 trillion on the agenda of parliament will resume after Eid al-Adha holidays, ministerial and parliamentary sources said.

The sources told An Nahar daily on Friday that the draft law is necessary to pay the salaries and end-of-service payments of civil servants in several ministries and state institutions.

United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki-moon has not yet decided on the diplomat who will succeed U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams, As Safir newspaper reported on Friday.

The daily said that Ban has ruled out appointing any of the three persons whom media outlets had named as the main candidates to succeed Williams.

The acting spokesman of Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare confirmed to Naharnet that the judge is currently away from the STL seat but stressed that he is following up the work of his office.

“As a matter of policy we do not discuss details of the health of staff,” Gregory Townsend, the senior legal officer and acting spokesperson of Bellemare’s office, told Naharnet.

Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas confirmed on Friday that he received the answers of the Economic Committees and the Syndicate Coordination Committee on his recommendations on the wage boost.

He told LBCI TV station that the Syndicate Coordination Committee was more cooperative.