Former MP Ghattas Khoury appeared on Thursday before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon as a witness to testify on the period in Lebanon that preceded and followed the extension of the term of former President Emile Lahoud.

Khoury, who was closely affiliated with slain Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, spoke of how the Syrian regime influenced political life in Lebanon, causing a “revolt against the Lebanese constitution” that in turn led to the extension of Lahoud's term in office in 2004.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has extended the mandate of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) for a period of three years from March 1, 2015, in accordance with Security Council resolution 1757, a statement on the U.N. chief's website said.

The mandate of the STL, which is based near The Hague in the Netherlands, is to hold trials for those accused of carrying out the bomb attack of February 14, 2005 in Beirut which killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 other people.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon is working on an amended indictment that will include the name of a sixth suspect in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday.

In addition, the STL Prosecution may summon a lawmaker from Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance bloc as a suspect to give his testimony before the court.

The trial of the contempt case against Al-Jadeed S.A.L. and Karma Al Khayat has been scheduled for April 2015, announced the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Thursday.

STL Contempt Judge, Nicola Lettieri ordered the trial to start on April 16, 2015.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon heard on Thursday the controversy on telecommunications data that erupted in the aftermath of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005.

MP Marwan Hamadeh, who is the first politician to appear in court as a witness in the in absentia trial of five Hizbullah members, provided answers during the cross-examination of defense counsel Vincent Courcelle-Labrousse.

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.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat is at The Hague where the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is based for possible consultations on his testimony in the trial of suspects in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's Feb. 2005 assassination, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Thursday.

The daily said Jumblat traveled to the Netherlands on Tuesday.

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.