President Hosni Mubarak met with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri on Tuesday in Cairo. The two heads of state discussed recent developments regarding the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon, a committee designed to investigate the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Al-Hariri's visit coincides with accusations of false witness testimonies. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a speech Saturday alleged the tribunal is protecting false witnesses. Monday's edition of the Lebanese Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper Al-Akhbar reported a series of meetings between Nasrallah and other Hezbollah officials at which the secretary-general of the organization discussed the challenges that the militia-turned-political party will face in the upcoming period. Nasrallah reportedly said that Hezbollah is prepared to deal with all possible threats, domestic or international. The paper also noted that Nasrallah urged secrecy over the group's plans. Last week Mubarak implicitly warned Hezbollah and Syria against interfering in the tribunal's work. In related news, Hezbollah officials earlier this month reportedly claimed that Egypt and Jordan trained Sunni militias close to al-Hariri's Future Movement. Spokesperson for the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hossam Zaki however dismissed the allegations. "This is baseless. The target behind this [claim] is clear--to detach Egypt from its role of seeking stability in Lebanon," he said. "That will not happen since Egypt is committed to supporting the Lebanese state and institutions." Last month, former Lebanese security chief Jamil al-Sayyed accused Egypt of destabilizing his country through fomenting sectarianism between its Shia and Sunni sects. Hariri visited Egypt in June but the two leaders last met in early July in France.
