Below are the most frequently asked questions about the Special Tribunal for Lebanon as published on the court's website.

The STL was set up in The Hague in 2007 by the United Nations to try those alleged to have carried out the bomb attack that assassinated former PM Rafik Hariri.

Former premier Saad Hariri said Thursday that the cabinet should uphold Lebanon’s commitments towards the international tribunal and has no excuse in escaping its responsibilities.

In a statement issued by his press office, Hariri described the release of the indictment by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon as a "historic moment" for Lebanon.

The March 14 forces hailed the indictment and arrest warrants submitted to Prosecutor General Saeed Mirza in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination case on Thursday.

"This is a big day for Lebanon," March 14 General-Secretariat coordinator Fares Soaid told Agence France Presse. "We have been waiting for this for six years.

Information Minister Walid al-Daouq announced on Thursday the government’s approval of its policy statement, referring it to parliament for the vote of confidence.

He said in a press conference after the ratification of the statement: “Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed during the session that calm and responsible dialogue pervaded the sessions drafting the statement.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stated on Thursday that the indictment in the murder case of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri paves the way for a fair trial before the Lebanese, Arab, and international public.

He said before reporters: “The new government should follow up on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s functioning and its abandonment is treason against the martyrs and all Lebanese.”

Media reports have stated that the indictment in the murder case of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri includes the names of four suspects: Mustafa Badreddine, who is close to Hizbullah, Salim Ayyash, Hassan Aneissy, known as Hassan Issa, and Assad Sabra.

Born in 1963 in the southern town of Harouf, Ayysah is a Civil Defense volunteer and a member of Hizbullah.

Three judges from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon handed over to General Prosecutor Saeed Mirza on Thursday a copy of the indictment in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination case.

The indictment urges Lebanese authorities to issue arrest warrants against four Lebanese that are close to Hizbullah, media reports said.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel assured the Lebanese that the security situation is stable and that the release of the indictment by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon will not have any repercussions on the ground.

Charbel told Voice of Lebanon radio station (100.5) that the “indictment is just an indictment and it’s not a final verdict, so why all the fuss about making a security deployment as if something has happened.”

The cabinet held a session at Baabda palace on Thursday to discuss the policy statement that was adopted a day earlier by a 12-member committee tasked with drafting it.

The cabinet meeting was preceded by closed-door talks between President Michel Suleiman and PM Najib Miqati.

Hizbullah sources said the Shiite party had succeeded in absorbing the strife-prone impact of the indictment that is expected to be issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

In remarks to pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Thursday, the sources said: “We expect the indictment to be issued any moment but we consider ourselves that we succeeded in absorbing its strife prone impact.”