President Michel Suleiman on Wednesday briefed ministers of foreign affairs and justice, Adnan Mansour and Shakib Qortbawi, on the content of the letter he received from U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon through the foreign ministry, in which the U.N. head noted that he was inclined to extend the mandate of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and its judges for another three years. [Naharnet]

Meanwhile, The eight lawyers assigned by the Defense Office of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to the accused in the Ayyash et al. case have been sworn in, the U.N.-backed court said Wednesday in a statement. [Naharnet]