Hizbullah has reportedly unleashed a simulation of the zero hour aimed at holding both a security and military grip on Lebanon and corner Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

A report published Monday by al-Akhbar newspaper said that prior to Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's Oct. 28 speech a "main Opposition group was carrying out an electronic, field simulation for the assumed zero hour."

Judge Antonio Cassese, President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, on Friday stressed STL's "firm intention not to bow to any act of interference and intimidation in carrying out our mandate in an independent and fair manner."

In separate letters addressed to Premier Saad Hariri and U.N. chief Ban Ki Moon, Cassese conveyed the tribunal's "great concern about the incident which took place in Beirut on 27 October and resulted in the injury of STL staff and the unlawful removal of STL property."

Hizbullah on Friday snapped back at Mustaqbal's media outlets and officials, denying "claims" that Hizbullah security official Wafiq Safa had been informed beforehand about the visit of U.N. investigators to Dahiyeh.

"The Coordination and Liaison Unit in Hizbullah stresses that this claim is a pure lie."

The Office of the Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Friday stressed that the U.N. investigators did not breach "ethical, religious and humanitarian norms" during their recent visit to a gynecology clinic in Beirut Southern Suburbs.

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Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Friday stressed that "Lebanon will not fall into discord or into the absence of dialogue, or into (the dominance of) one opinion."

"Lebanon will not fall out of its democratic, Arab and free identity. Lebanon will always remain a sanctuary for coexistence and total parity between Muslims and Christians," Hariri said in a speech he delivered at a ceremony organized by the Suleiman Olayan School of Business, at the American University of Beirut, on the occasion of its tenth anniversary.

The United States on Friday vowed support for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, accusing Hizbullah of "intimidation" in urging a boycott.

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday warned all Lebanese not to help investigators probing the 2005 killing of ex-PM Rafik Hariri, saying that such cooperation "contributes to the assault on the Resistance."

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has voiced his deep concerns over the "recent statements and events related to the work of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon."

Ban condemned Wednesday's attack on U.N. investigators at a gynecology clinic in Beirut Southern Suburbs, a Hizbullah stronghold, stressing that "such acts of interference and intimidation are unacceptable."

The Mustaqbal bloc repeated on Friday its support for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon "that all the Lebanese agreed on to protect political diversity."

It said in a statement after a meeting headed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the Center House: "We call on all political forces to respect the internal dialogue on the international investigation and respect the laws that protect the components of Lebanese society."

Liberation and Development bloc MP Qassem Hashem stressed on Friday that there is no way to doubt Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's recent speech, saying that all international developments related to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon are aimed at destabilizing the country.

He told ANB television that Nasrallah's speech "did not embarrass us … but his statements represent the dividing line between allowing the whole of Lebanon to be violated and maintaining the Lebanese' dignity."

Reform and Change bloc MP Nabil Nicola stressed on Friday that Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has the right to demand the Lebanese not to cooperate with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the international investigators.

Addressing the Dahiyeh incident, he said that medical ethics obligate all doctors not to divulge patient information to anyone, not even the international investigators.