The United Nations special tribunal investigating the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri will indict five Hezbollah members for the 2005 killing, the Asharq Alawsat newspaper reported on Monday.

According to the report, the special tribunal will ask the Lebanese government to allow it to personally interrogate the five suspects. The request will be made in the coming days.

Open gallery view Former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, May 25, 2001. Credit: AP

The names of the suspects are being kept confidential at this time, the report said.

Lebanese officials did not respond to the report.

Lebanese Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi said that he had no information on the matter and a spokesperson for the special tribunal also did not comment.

The Al-Hayat newspaper reported on Monday that the Lebanese court system will receive the indictment from the special tribunal on Monday or Tuesday. The report, based on French sources, did not give details on who would be indicted.

Meanwhile, a Lebanese parliament member from the Hariri faction said on Monday that all reports were media reports and that no official message had been received.

At the start of May, the UN special tribunal's prosecutor Daniel Bellemare amended his indictment to include "substantive new elements unavailable until recently."

