President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Judge Sir David Baragwanath will arrive in Lebanon on April 1, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Monday.

“Baragwanath has informed the Lebanese authorities about his expected visit in an official letter sent to Lebanon’s embassy” in the Netherlands, sources told the daily.

Judge Sir David Baragwanath was unanimously reelected on Tuesday as the Special Tribunal for Lebanon president and Presiding Judge of the Appeals Chamber, announced the STL in a statement.

The Appeals Chamber also voted unanimously to reelect Judge Ralph Riachi of Lebanon as the vice president, it added.

Former Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare expressed optimism that the perpetrators of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination in 2005 will be brought to justice.

“I never despair…Look at the Balkans. Some of them took 12 or 15 years before they were found,” Bellemare, a Canadian, said in his first interview after he resigned his post at the end of his tenure on Feb. 25 for health reasons.

The new Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Norman Farrell, and the new Appeals Chamber Judge, Daniel Nsereko, have been sworn in Monday afternoon, announced the STL in a statement.

“It is my devout hope and expectation that, with both Prosecution and Defense teams in place and the Chambers now back to full strength, we can together deliver justice in accordance with the law,” said Judge Sir David Baragwanath, the Tribunal’s president, in remarks delivered during the swearing in ceremony.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecution and Defense counsel have been asked to file written submissions to the Appeals Chamber on the crime of "criminal association" (under Article 335 of the Lebanese Criminal Code), announced the STL in a statement on Thursday.

The parties have until March 15 to submit their arguments to the Appeals Chamber along with arguments on whether an oral hearing should take place, it explained.

The U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the 2005 assassination of ex-PM Rafik Hariri has published its third annual report detailing its activities during the past year.

“A copy of the report was sent last week to the U.N. Secretary-General (Ban Ki-moon) and the Lebanese Prime Minister,” Najib Miqati, the STL said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

The recent amendments to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s indictment in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has “confused” Hizbullah, reported the Kuwaiti al-Seyassah newspaper on Sunday.

A source monitoring the situation told the newspaper that Hizbullah understood the amendment to be a precursor for allowing the tribunal to accuse parties in the assassination of the former premier.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen has requested the Appeals Chamber to define the crime of “criminal association” following the Prosecution’s recent request to amend the indictment, announced the STL in a statement.

“On February 8, 2012 the Prosecution requested to amend the indictment in a confidential filing only to the pre-trial judge,” it revealed.

General Prosecutor Saeed Mirza denied on Friday that he received a copy of a new indictment in the attacks on the three officials that have been linked to ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s murder.

Mirza stressed to As Safir newspaper that “once he receives anything (new), he will announce it immediately.”

The newly-appointed President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Judge Sir David Baragwanath stated that the STL does not have jurisdiction in tackling the “so-called false witnesses file.”

He said in his first public statements since assuming his position: “We don’t have jurisdiction to tackle the false witnesses file until the Lebanese government, U.N., and Security Council agree to it.”