The Lebanese minister of Telecommunication, Charbel Nahas has refused to pass on telephone details to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) in the Dutch town of Leidschendam.

Minister Nahas, who is a member of the interim cabinet led by Prime Minister Najib Mikati, says the STL has repeatedly requested the details of a number of Lebanese nationals. He says he has declined to hand over the information because he considers it a violation of Lebanese privacy legislation.

The STL is investigating the assassination in 2005 of former prime minister Rafik Hariri. The tribunal is expected to accuse leaders of the radical Shiite Hezbollah movement as its main suspects. Hezbollah let the government of national unity led by Rafik Hariri’s son Saad al-Hariri fall in mid-January after he refused to end cooperation with the tribunal.