The attack this morning in Beirut against staff members of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is a deplorable attempt to obstruct justice, STL's press office said in a communiqué on Wednesday.

"Those who carried out this attack must know that violence will not deter the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, a court of law, from fulfilling its mandate," added the communiqué.

Men disguised as Muslim women clad in burqa (black veil and top to toe gown) were reportedly part of the group of women that attacked U.N. investigators at a Beirut clinic who were on a mission to obtain phone numbers of between 14 to 17 people.

On Wednesday, a group of women stormed into a gynecologist's clinic in Beirut's southern suburbs and clashed with investigators from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

The so-called key witness in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri Zuheir Siddiq was not shot and wounded in Germany, his brother Imad said.

The website "Beirut Observer" on Tuesday quoted sources as saying Siddiq survived an assassination attempt a "few days ago."

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will appear on television on Thursday evening to talk about the performance and behavior of investigators from a U.N. probe into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

A Hizbullah statement said Nasrallah will appear on Al-Manar TV at 8:30 pm on Thursday.

A prominent Arab-Israeli human rights activist was convicted on Wednesday of spying for Lebanon's Hizbullah, a statement from the Israeli justice ministry said.

In a plea bargain submitted to the Haifa district court, Amir Makhoul "confessed to and was convicted of ... espionage and aggravated espionage," the statement said.

A group of women charged at investigators from a U.N. probe into the murder of ex-premier Rafik Hariri at a Beirut Southern Suburbs gynecology clinic Wednesday, snatching a briefcase but causing no injuries, a doctor said.

Doctor Iman Sharara, who runs the private obstetrics and gynecology clinic, told reporters a team of two male investigators, their female translator and a plain clothes security officer arrived at her practice mid-morning on a scheduled appointment.

Deputy Speaker Farid Makari on Wednesday described "the assault on the team of international investigators in Dahiyeh today as dangerous", noting that "it falls within the context of the all-out war being waged by March 8 forces on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon".

In a statement he issued, Makari described this assault as "dangerous, abominable, and causes a major embarrassment for Lebanon, in addition to putting it in a confrontation with the international community, since it directly targets the international legitimacy as well as those investigators representing it and performing a task according to its decisions."

Mustaqbal bloc MP Khaled Zahraman on Wednesday noted that the assault on a team of international investigators in Dahiyeh was "alarming," adding that "it might be the beginning of chaos in the country or the beginning of an attempt to disrupt security."

He stressed that it represents an "obstruction of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's work."

Physician Iman Sharara whose clinic in Beirut's southern suburbs was attacked Wednesday by a crowd of about 150 women said international investigators showed up after taking an appointment.

"A man from the investigation team by the name of Muwafaq called me over the phone on Friday asking me to set up an appointment," Sharara said.

The March 14 general secretariat condemned on Wednesday the attack against Special Tribunal for Lebanon investigators that took place in Dahiyeh today “at the hands of residents affiliated with Hizbullah that assaulted the investigators and stole their files.”

It said in a statement after its weekly meeting that the attack was reminiscent of attacks that had targeted the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon in the South, “which is an attack against international legitimacy and resolutions.”