The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) ordered the release of four Lebanese generals held over the assassination of Lebanon's ex-premier Rafiq Hariri.

"The pre-trial judge orders, unless they are held in another case, the release with immediate effect" of the four generals, judge Daniel Fransen said.

The Belgian pre-trial judge granted the request by Canadian prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, who had stated [in a submission filed on Monday] that he had no credible evidence on which to hold the men.

The four have been detained in Lebanon since 2005, but are legally in the custody of the tribunal. Beirut relinquished its jurisdiction in the Hariri case this month following the official opening of the STL in March.

The generals to be released are the former head of the presidential guard, Mustafa Hamdan (53), security services director Jamil Sayyed (58), domestic security chief Ali Hajj (52), and military intelligence chief Raymond Azar (56).

The men were detained following the massive February 2005 bomb blast on the Beirut seafront that killed then premier Hariri and 22 other people, stirring a political crisis and leading to the withdrawal of Syrian troops after a 29-year presence in Lebanon.

Lawyers for the four generals said there was no evidence to link them to the 2005 killing of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri. They claimed the decision was four years too late.

"After 44 months, justice has been done and it should have been 43 months ago," said Naji Bustany, counsel for Hamdan and Azar.

Bustany welcomed the ruling by the Tribunal, saying the court's pre-trial judge and the prosecutor had shown objectivity and fairness in their decision.

After the decision, celebratory gunfire broke out in Hezbollah's stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut while relatives of the four generals wept with joy.