The dialogue between the Mustaqbal Movement and Hizbullah is expected to continue despite the testimony of Mustaqbal bloc chief MP Fouad Saniora before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon that revealed that slain former Premier Rafik Hariri was aware of Hizbullah assassination attempts against him, reported the daily An Nahar on Thursday.

Observers told the daily: “The dialogue will continue because the factors that preceded Saniora's testimony and those that followed it have not altered the course of the talks even if some March 8 coalition members sought to tarnish it through media campaigns.”

Head of the Mustaqbal bloc MP Fouad Saniora resumed on Wednesday his testimony at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon by being cross-examined by the Defense that focused on the Syrian and Lebanese security systems in Lebanon during the 1990s and up until the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri in 2005, as well as Hizbullah's role in Lebanon.

He said: “I am not in a position to say that Hizbullah assassinated Hariri”

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday accused the March 8 forces of waging a “political media campaign” against its chief, MP Fouad Saniora, over his testimony at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in The Hague.

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the bloc said Saniora has so far demonstrated “all the circumstances that Lebanon was going through prior to the assassination” of former premier Rafik Hariri, and the impact of “the oppressive interferences that were practiced by the Lebanese-Syrian security apparatus and its tools in Lebanon and Syria.”

Al-Mustaqbal bloc leader MP Fouad Saniora said on Tuesday that his longtime friend, slain former Premier Rafik Hariri, confided to him that he had discovered several assassination attempts by Hizbullah against him.

“Hariri was driving his car and I was sitting next to him when he suddenly turned towards me and said: 'You know Fouad, by now we have discovered several assassination attempts by Hizbullah against me',” Saniora told the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Head of the Mustaqbal bloc MP Fouad Saniora started on Monday giving his testimony at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, focusing on the ties between former Premier Rafik Hariri and the Syrian regime during the 1990s and early 2000s, as well as the influence the Syrian security apparatus wielded on Lebanon.

He said before the trial chamber at The Hague: “The Syrian regime sought to extend the term of then President Emile Lahoud, promising us that a 'new Lahoud' would emerge in the aftermath of the constitutional amendment.”

Head of the Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Fouad Saniora is scheduled to present his testimony before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Monday, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Saturday.

Widely-informed sources told the daily that the testimony “introduces a new phase of the trial.”

Head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Fouad Saniora filed a complaint against Arab Tawhid Party leader and former minister Wiam Wahhab over remarks accusing the lawmaker of belonging to the “Israeli project” in the region.

The state-run National News Agency reported on Thursday that Saniora briefed General Prosecutor Samir Hammoud on the context of Wahhab's statements during a televised interview, stressing that he reserves the right to file a lawsuit against the former minister.

Speaker Nabih Berri has said he advised al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc leader MP Fouad Saniora to disregard remarks made by officials outside Lebanon to preserve Lebanon.

Berri said in remarks published on Wednesday that he criticized Saniora on his latest speech, adding it did not fall in the interest of the dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal.

The dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal was in limbo after the two parties' officials exchanged accusations, a few days before a new round of talks between them.

Over the weekend, Hizbullah officials Hashem Safieddine and MP Mohammed Raad lashed out at the March 14 alliance's formation of the National Council.

Speaker Nabih Berri held talks on Wednesday with Education Minister Elias Bou Saab and a delegation from the Syndicate Coordination Committee on the new wage scale.

Bou Saab stated after the talks that Berri requested the concerned officials to call for a joint parliamentary committees meeting on Tuesday to address the hike.