Head of the international tribunal's defense office Francois Roux is expected to arrive in Beirut in the coming week to meet with senior Lebanese officials.

According to An Nahar newspaper published on Friday, Roux will hold talks with several politicians, diplomats and Head of Beirut Bar Association Nuhad Jabr and Head of Tripoli's Bar Association Bassam Dayeh.

President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Judge Sir David Baragwanath, addressed on Wednesday members of the Tripoli Bar Association via video conference, announced the STL in a statement.

He spoke about the responsibilities and challenges faced by judges, and the differences between judging at the national and international levels.

The Appeals Chamber has scheduled an open hearing on 1 October at 9:15 a.m. to hear the appeal against the decision on the jurisdiction and the legality of the Tribunal, announced the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in a press release on Friday.

The Trial Chamber dismissed on July 27 the four Defense motions challenging the jurisdiction and legality of the Tribunal.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon spokesman Marten Youssef stressed on Friday that the sanctions imposed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury against Mustafa Badreddine don't affect the trials.

“The judges will only take into consideration the evidence presented against him concerning” the 2005 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and 21 others, Youssef said in comments published in An Nahar newspaper.

Last Thursday, on 13 September 2012, the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions against Mustafa Badreddine, designating him pursuant to Executive Order 13224 “for providing support to Hizbullah’s terrorist activities in the Middle East and around the world,” said the Defense counsel at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in a statement on Thursday.

The Defense for Mustafa Amine Badreddine considers that these sanctions amount to political interference with the ongoing judicial process before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen has granted nine additional persons the status of victims participating in the Ayyash et al proceedings, the STL said Tuesday in a statement.

The nine victims will form part of the existing group of 58 victims whose status as victims participating in the proceedings was recognized by Fransen in May 2012.

The head of the Independence Movement Michel Mouawad noted on Thursday that the latest developments in Lebanon are aimed at imposing Lebanon under the rule of Hizbullah’s arms and changing its identity by force.

He added during an Independence Movement iftar: “We reject the employment of Zgharta’s name in defending the criminal Syrian regime.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat noted on Saturday that the current government’s main achievement” is its commitment to the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

He declared during a Ramadan iftar in the Shouf region: “The obscure army, people, and resistance slogan can no longer persist at the expense of the state, army, security, and economy.”

The March 14 camp is seeking to take judicial action against former minister and MP Michel Samaha, who was charged with planning attacks in Lebanon, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

Informed sources told the daily that the camp will attempt to persuade President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati to suspend diplomatic and official ties with Syria in light of revelations that Samaha had sought to carry out the attacks at Syrian orders.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stated on Thursday that former minister and MP Michel Samaha’s arrest was based on a judicial request.

He said: “The investigations with Samaha are linked to security issues, not the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.”