Beirut - Joy engulfed the families Wednesday of four Lebanese generals who were held for nearly four years without charges over the 2005 assassination of prime minister Rafik Hariri, after the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (SFL) called for their release.

The four generals are Jamil Sayyed, the General Security chief and probably the most powerful Lebanese under Syrian dominance, police chief Ali Hajj, army intelligence chief Raymond Azar, and the head of the Presidential Guard Brigade, Mustafa Hamdan.

The Hague/Beirut - A UN tribunal on Wednesday ordered the immediate release of four former Lebanese generals detained for four years without charge in connection with the 2005 assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister Rafik Hariri.

Daniel Fransen, the pre-trial judge of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), announced the decision in The Hague, where the court is based.

Beirut - Lebanon must go on high alert in anticipation of Israel's biggest-ever military manoeuvres on May 31, Hezbollah parliamentary bloc head Mohammed Raad said Tuesday. "The country must be fully prepared for such an emergency," Raad was quoted as saying during a national dialogue session at which he distributed an extensive study on the details of targets, scenarios and steps to counter a possible threat.

Beirut- Arab League chief Amr Mussa arrived in Beirut Saturday to discuss the crisis between Cairo and the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah over an alleged cell linked to the group working to destabilize Egypt, a government source said. Mussa met with President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Fouad Seniora, the source said.

Mussa said after meeting Seniora that he was following up the Lebanese elections, due on June 7, and "the issue of the alleged Hezbollah cell arrested in Egypt."

Beirut - Lebanese security forces arrested on Saturday a cell linked to the Israeli intelligence Mossad in southern Lebanon, a security source said. The police arrested three members of the cell during raids in Jezzine, Nabatiyeh and Sidon, in southern Lebanon, the source said.

Voice of Lebanon radio station identified two of the arrested as suspect Ali Mantash in Nabatiyeh and a Palestinian whose family name is Awad in Sidon.

The Lebanese Police lately uncovered an Israel spy network dubbed "al-Alam cell."

Lebanon  - Some 587 candidates will be running in Lebanon's upcoming parliamentary election, due to be held on June 7, the country's interior minister said Thursday.

The poll is expected to be hotly contested between the Western- backed ruling coalition of Prime Minister Fouad Seniora, and the Hezbollah-led opposition.

Interior Minister Ziad Baroud said the 587 candidates will be competing for 125 of the 128 seats in the unicameral parliament.