The Special Tribunal for Lebanon announced through Twitter on Wednesday that the Prosecution has until December 16 to present a progress report on Lebanon’s efforts to arrest the four accused in being involved in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

It reiterated the Prosecution’s call on Lebanon, during the November 11 hearing, for it to “intensify efforts to arrest the accused.”

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon praised on Sunday Lebanon’s condemnation of Friday’s attack against the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, confirmed that he will visit Lebanon in January.

He told Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour that he will visit the country on January 13 and 14.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Saturday that the false witnesses issue will be tackled at the appropriate time.

“We’re merely waiting for the right time to tackle the issue as there are matters concerning the Judicial body that we need to resolve first,” Miqati said during an interview with al-Jazeera satellite channel.

A delegation from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon arrived in Beirut for few hours to meet with Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, Central News Agency reported on Saturday.

The delegation thanked Charbel during the meeting for his cooperation with the tribunal probing the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon will discuss with senior Lebanese officials during his upcoming visit to Beirut the cooperation protocol of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon that is opposed by the majority of the cabinet members.

The protocol expires in March.

Speaker Nabih Berri has stressed that the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon “should have followed the constitutional path in Lebanon,” noting that “no one would have opposed it in that case.”

In an interview with Al-Afkar weekly to be published Friday, Berri emphasized that the court “is still unconstitutional because neither the president nor the parliament have ratified it.”

Baabda Palace has reportedly snubbed visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman after the failure of President Michel Suleiman to meet with any U.S. official during his visit to New York in September.

An Nahar daily said Thursday that the presidential palace did not set a date for talks between Suleiman and Feltman as a retaliation to the failure to hold any meeting between the Lebanese head of a state and U.S. officials on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in September.

The Registrar of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Herman von Hebel stated on Wednesday that predicting the judicial process in the tribunal is “very difficult.”

He expected however that the trial in the case of the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri may begin in 2012.

The Maronite Bishops Council voiced its fears on Wednesday over the various security incidents that have taken place in Lebanon, stressing that the country’s sovereignty should not be undermined.

It expressed in a statement after its monthly meeting its concern of the possibility of the unrest in Syria spreading to Lebanon.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman stressed on Wednesday the need for Lebanon to continue its cooperation with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

He said after holding talks with Prime Minsiter Najib Miqati that he does not believe that Lebanon wants to wage a confrontation with the Arab and international communities.