With minutes to spare, Hizballah called off its plan Wednesday night, Jan. 19, to lay siege to UN offices in Beirut and UNIFIL patrols in the South, debkafile's military sources report.  It was planned to blackmail the UN Secretary into reassessing the UN tribunal's indictments of Hizballah officials for the murder of Rafiq Hariri six years ago, after the tribunal warned that the state of Lebanon would be held accountable for flouting its orders, whichever government was in power.

Lebanon's ex-prime minister Saad Hariri arrived home in the middle of a hectic race by Hizballah's leader Hassan Nasrallah to install an alternative pro-Iranian-Syrian government in order to fend off indictments against his top officials for the murder of Saad Hariri's father six years ago. Hizballah believes a bloodless coup through parliament will enable him to invalidate the Special Lebanese Tribunal, whose prosecutor is expected to hand his findings to the pre-trial judge momentarily.

The Obama administration has a plan for closing Hassan Nasrallah's options on the Hariri tribunal which could also be applied to Osama bin Laden and other elusive terrorists: Trial in absentia. The tribunal itself is dragging its feet and may not be ready to go before the spring.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri begins a suicidal trip to the Iranian capital Saturday, Nov. 27, to the accompaniment of falling Western holdings across the Middle East, debkafile's analysts report. Finding the US, Israel and Arab moderates unwilling to rescue him from Syria and Iran he, like Samson in Philistine captivity, decided to let them collapse too when he is crushed by Hizballah. So Iran will face the world powers at the nuclear talks starting Dec. 5 empowered by its Lebanese acquisition.

Hizballah's Iranian commander, Gen. Hossein Mahadavi of Al Qods  Brigades, has  , ,        , ha   polished a plan for seizing power in Beirut just before the UN tribunal delivers indictments for top Hizballah officers'  trial in the murder of Rafiq Hariri. Joint Hizballah, Syrian and Iranian forces ...

The speech Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanon's Hizballah, delivered Thursday night Oct. 29 was taken in all sections of Lebanese society as a virtual declaration of war - a conflict which they fear will be even fiercer and crueler than the 1975 civil war.  It is widely believed, according to debkafile's Middle East sources, that the power-sharing order the diverse communities achieved after that conflict will be swept away and replaced with a pro-Iranian, pro-Syrian puppet regime.

In a sudden about-face, the Saudis Monday, Oct. 25, urged Lebanon's pro-Western Prime Minister Saad Hariri to step down without delay and make way for an administration dominated by pro-Syrian ministers and Hizballah. King Abdullah, according to debkafile's Middle East and Beirut sources, sees no other way of saving Lebanon from tipping over into bloody strife over Hizballah's demand to disband the international tribunal probing the 2005 murder of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri.

The Iranian and Syrian presidents agreed in Tehran Saturday, Oct. 2, to support  Hizballah's grab of Lebanon's power centers, including the capital Beirut, right after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ends his controversial two-day visit to the country on October 13-14. They also decided to harass the Saad Hariri government until it dissolves the UN tribunal probing the Hariri murder - or is overthrown.

The arrest warrants for 33 individuals issued by Damascus amounts to a declaration of war.

The Special United Nations Tribunal (STL) for fixing responsibility for the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri in February 2005 is now pointing the finger of suspicion not only at nine high-ranking Hizballah officials but also their overlords, members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.