The defense lawyers of the four suspects accused of carrying out the assassination of late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri stated on Friday that the crime is still “motiveless,” complaining also about the “noncooperation” of Lebanese authorities.

“Until this day, the General Prosecutor has not given any motives that could have triggered carrying out the assassination of Hariri,” suspect Mustafa Badreddine's lead counsel Antoine Korkmaz said at a press conference in The Hague.

A number of people were killed and wounded on Friday in shelling from the Syrian side of the border against the Bekaa border town of Arsal.

The National News Agency reported that seven people were killed and 15 wounded in the attack.

The Hague - Naharnet Exclusive

From the very first minutes of the opening session of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon trials in The Hague, the strategies of the court's competing organs became evident.

Paris - Naharnet Exclusive Report

Officials concerned with Lebanese affairs in the French administration assured on Wednesday that the Saudi Arabian donation to the military institution has taken its first steps towards implementation.

Washington on Tuesday hit out at Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for laying a wreath of flowers on the tomb of slain Hizbullah military commander Imad Mughniyeh during his latest visit to Beirut.

“The United States condemns the decision taken by Zarif ... to place a wreath at the grave of Imad Mughniyeh, a former leader of Lebanese Hizbullah responsible for heinous acts of terrorism that killed hundreds of innocent people, including Americans,” U.S. National Security Council Spokesperson Caitlin Hayden said in a statement.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday warned against forming a cabinet containing representatives of both the March 8 and March 14 rival political camps.

“An active cabinet that can pull Lebanon out of this dangerous abyss can only be a cabinet driven by a single horse in the right direction and call it whatever you want to call it,” said Geagea at a rally titled “Era of Justice” that was held in Maarab on the occasion of the imminent start of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon trial.

Naharnet feature

President Michel Suleiman's recent positions and political choices have sparked debates between the various Lebanese political factions. The president, who may have been “consensually” elected in 2008 through the Doha Accord that was brought about by Hizbullah's actions on May 7, 2008, is now in a semi-overt confrontation with the party over its internal and strategic choices.

Ahmad Jarba, the leader of Syria's opposition National Coalition, said Sunday that the U.S.-led "Friends of Syria" grouping had agreed that President Bashar Assad and his family will have no role in the country's future.

Jarba did not announce whether or not the opposition would take part in peace talks with representatives of Assad's regime due to start next week in Switzerland.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun rejected on Tuesday President Michel Suleiman's suggestion to form a neutral government, saying that nonpartisan ministers “have no opinions.”

He said after the Change and Reform bloc's weekly meeting: “Threats to form a neutral cabinet make it unconstitutional.”

President Michel Suleiman on Monday condemned attempts to link the cabinet formation process to the May presidential election, wondering why can't the Lebanese have a “neutral government” after 10 months of political vacuum.

“Should we fail to form an all-embracing political cabinet, don't people have the right to contribute to the formation of a neutral government? In the absence of consensus on an inclusive cabinet, do we have to stay without a cabinet?” Suleiman wondered in a televised speech he delivered at the Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture in Beirut.