MP Marwan Hamadeh revealed on Wednesday that he had held talks in Spring 2005 with Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in order to inquire about the attempt against his life in October 2004.

“I met with Nasrallah in late April-early May to ask him if his party was behind the assassination attempt,” he said during his ongoing testimony at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon's Trial Chamber decided Tuesday to add MP Walid Jumblat and journalist Ali Hamadeh to the Prosecution's list of witnesses in the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, amid debate between the Defense and judges over remarks by MP Marwan Hamadeh describing the accused Hizbullah members as “criminals.”

The Trial Chamber assessed that Jumblat and Hamadeh can provide evidence in the case due to their contact with the slain premier before his death.

MP Marwan Hamadeh resumed on Monday his testimony before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon by recounting the developments in the country following the extension of President Emile Lahoud's term and detailing the assassination attempt against him in October 2004.

He said before the Trial Chamber: “A brief investigation was launched in my assassination attempt before Syrian officials took away the files and transported them to the headquarters of Syrian intelligence in Anjar.”

MP Marwan Hamadeh told the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Thursday that during the months that preceded ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination in Feb. 2005, Syria sought to grant former President Emile Lahoud “all powers” at a time when Hariri worked on forming an anti-Damascus opposition in hopes of winning the general elections.

“Lebanon was a parliamentary system, which was being shifted by Syria into a presidential system, whereby Lahoud - a Syrian candidate and a Syrian representative - was grabbing all powers,” Hamadeh told the STL Trial Chamber.

MP Marwan Hamadeh told the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Wednesday how relations between slain ex-PM Rafik Hariri and Syrian President Bashar Assad broke down over the extension of President Emile Lahoud's term in 2004.

Hamadeh, on his third day of testimony, said he met with Hariri at the residence of Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat in Beirut's Clemenceau area in August 2004 upon the former premier's return to the Lebanese capital from a meeting with Assad.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq stressed on Wednesday that the upcoming year in Iraq and Syria will witness tough security developments, which will have severe repercussions on Lebanon.

“We are ready to face all the possible scenarios and the security forces are on full alert,” Mashnouq said in comments to As Safir newspaper.

MP Marwan Hamadeh resumed on Tuesday his testimony before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, focusing on Syria's hegemony over Lebanon under the premiership of slain PM Rafik Hariri and examining his ties with former President Emile Lahoud.

The ties between Hariri and MP Walid Jumblat came into prominence during the debate over the extension of Lahoud's term in 2004, prompting the STL Prosecution to reveal that it is studying the possibility of summoning the lawmaker to make his testimony before the tribunal.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon heard on Monday the testimony of Shouf MP Marwan Hamadeh in the Feb. 2005 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri, at the start of evidence provided by Lebanese politicians and influential figures on Syria's alleged complicity in the killing.

Hamadeh said Hariri played a major role in the negotiations that led to the adoption of the Taef Accord in 1989. But the agreement “wasn't enforced because of political conflicts.”

Prime Minister Tammam Salam expressed hope on Monday that the political arch-foes would reach an agreement on a modern electoral law that has a better parliamentary representation.

“Efforts should be exerted on all levels to agree on a consensual electoral law,” Salam said in comments published in al-Joumhouria newspaper.

MP Marwan Hamadeh is scheduled on Monday to make his political testimony before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, reported the daily An Nahar on Saturday.

His testimony will pave the way to tackling the political motivations linked to the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005, added the daily.