Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar stressed on Wednesday that the false witnesses file will never be transferred to the justice council because it is not within its jurisdiction.

He told the Saudi Okaz newspaper that the file cannot hinder the Special Tribunal for Lebanon regardless of the tensions in Lebanon.

Hizbullah on Wednesday criticized U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, saying his report on Resolution 1559 was meddling in the political affairs of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Ban's report "written by staff member of the Zionist entity, Terje Roed-Larsen, is interference in Lebanese internal affairs and political interference in the affairs of the International Tribunal," said a statement issued by Hizbullah.

Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud stressed on Wednesday the need to hold the false witnesses accountable for their actions, calling for seriously tackling the issue.

He told Future News however that solutions for problems in Lebanon are not devised locally, adding that regional powers have "become embroiled in the Lebanese swamp."

The U.S. embassy on Wednesday denied a report that said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman visited Syria after a sudden trip to Lebanon.

An-Nahar newspaper on Wednesday said Feltman stopped in Syria on his way to Morocco and met with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday arrived in Damascus for talks with President Bashar Assad and other Syrian officials.

He was accompanied his political aide, MP Ali Hasan Khalil.

Naharnet Special Report:

Special Tribunal for Lebanon action has begun. Key developments in the past few hours suggested that field and technical preparations are underway for the launch of Court work which is expected after issuance of the indictment in the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Hizbullah have restored contact in a bid to preserve peace.

Local media on Wednesday said Hariri met Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's political advisor Hussein Khalil at Center House.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday stressed that any potential conflict in Lebanon would not be of "sectarian" nature, "but it would rather be for change and reform, which are more important than the Special Tribunal for Lebanon."

Aoun noted that all parties should be concerned with change and reform.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea noted on Tuesday that the recent Saudi-Syrian summit did not yield any new results seeing as all parties have already taken a clear stand over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and all matters related to it.

He told the BBC that it is unfortunate that the summit took up such great media attention "because the issue at hand is an internal Lebanese one. It is time that internal Lebanese affairs only be determined by internal Lebanese sides."

Coordinator of the March 14 General-Secretariat former MP Fares Soaid noted that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent visit to Lebanon has restored Arab and international interest in the country.

He said in an interview with the daily Asharq al-Awsat Tuesday that his visit was followed by Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal's trip to Egypt, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's trip to Saudi Arabia, and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Jeffery Feltman's trip to Lebanon.