The latest verbal attacks on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) "were predictable" as they came at a time when international investigators are intensifying efforts to find the criminals behind former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri's killing.

A judicial source told the local Asharq al-Awsat newspaper on Friday that the verbal attacks aimed at "hindering the work of international investigators who began settling down at the tribunal's office in Beirut," highlighting the importance of enabling the STL to pursue its work.

Asharq al-Awsat's judicial source made his comments come after Lebanese former head of General Security Department Major General Jamil Sayyed's criticism of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Thursday.

The pro-opposition General Jamil Sayyed slammed what he called Hariri's "arrogant" stance over the false witnesses' case. He also named several individuals whom he said should be dealt with by judicial authorities.

Sayyed urged Saad Hariri to refer anti-Syrian judges Saeed Mirza to judicial inspection "instead of his desperate defense of those involved" in the creation of false witnesses.

Well-informed sources also told al-Liwaa newspaper on Friday that "hysterical campaigns" by some opposition figures against the tribunal and the Lebanese judiciary system are the result of the probe carried by international investigators in cooperation with the office of the tribunal's prosecutor in Beirut.

Al-Liwaa said investigators have recently questioned around 150people, in a move that it described as "the last checkup" on the list of names of those involved in Rafiq Hariri's killing.

Based in the Netherlands, the STL was established in March of 2006 by an agreement between the UN and Lebanese government for the prosecution, under Lebanese law, of criminal acts relating to the assassination of Rafiq Hariri.

Rafiq Hariri, Saad Hariri's father, was killed on Feb. 14, 2005when explosive equivalent to 1,000 kg of TNT was detonated as his motorcade drove past the St. George Hotel in Beirut.

The killing led to an end of Syrian troops' 29-year presence in Lebanon, and the replacement of a government heavily influenced by Syrian interests with more independent leadership, known as the Cedar Revolution.

Sayyed strongly attacked Saad Hariri and his political and security team on Sunday, accusing them of forgery along with the so-called "corrupt judges."

Sayyed, 58, was freed in April after nearly four years in jail along with three other pro-Syrian generals after the STL ordered their release, saying there was insufficient evidence to indict them for Rafiq Hariri's murder. No one has ever been formally charged.

Meanwhile, the STL and the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) have concluded an interim agreement on Interpol's assistance to the court with regard to its investigations and other proceedings that pertain to the crimes that fall under its jurisdiction, said a statement issued by the STL late Thursday.

As the STL has kept silent on whom it might charge as no one knows when an international court will issue its first indictments in Hariri's assassination; however, it is expected to release its sentence at the beginning of next year as sources told pro-Hariri "Future Television" on Friday.

Many Lebanese officials have accused Syria and anti-government Lebanese officials of complicity in the murders, but recent reports took a more lenient approach, asking only for Syria's cooperation in the investigation.

Damascus had insisted that it had no part in the assassination of Hariri, though with whom it had an uneasy relationship.

Source: Xinhua