The UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) has asked Beirut to hand over documents relating to the murder of the former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafiq Hariri.

The ruling by pre-trial judge Daniel Fransen asked Lebanese judicial authorities to "defer to the tribunal's competence" in the Hariri case.

It requested that Beirut "as soon as possible and at the latest within 14 days of receiving this order, refer to the prosecutor the results of the investigation and a copy of the court's records regarding the Hariri case".

Last week, STL chief prosecutor, Canadian Daniel Bellemare, formally requested that the case be moved from Lebanon to the tribunal. The tribunal is based in the Dutch city of Leidschendam but proceedings will be conducted according to Lebanese law.

Transfer

The tribunal also asked for a list of all suspects being held in connection with the 2005 terrorist attack.

Four pro-syrian generals arrested in the months following the Hariri murder are still being detained in Beirut. They are Jamil al-Sayyad, Ali Hajj, Raymond Azar and Mustafa Hamdan.

Three others, charged with withholding information and misleading the ongoing probe, were recently freed on bail.

Bellemare has until the end of April to ask for suspects to be transferred to Leidschendam.

In the meantime, he asked that the suspects continue to be held until a decision is made.

Bellemare has said he would submit an indictment when satisfied that he had sufficient evidence.