国际英语新闻：Hezbollah boycotts Lebanese national dialogue for first time

BEIRUT, NOV. 4 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah boycotted for the first time a session of national dialogue scheduled on Thursday.

Hezbollah's Christians allies in the Free Patriotic Movement ( FPM) and the Marada Movement did not attend talks at the presidential palace either.

FPM head Michel Aoun said his group and Hezbollah boycotted the session to protest the government's postponement of discussions on the thorny issue of the so-called "false witnesses."

The boycott was seen as a sign of mounting tensions over the UN- backed court probing the assassination of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of Rafic Hariri, slammed the boycott, saying "they lose."

Lebanon's national dialogue, attended by leaders of the country 's main factions, mulls a defense strategy for the country.

Hezbollah accuses those "false witnesses" of misleading the probe into the 2005 Hariri murder in order to implicate its members.

Tension over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which is looking into the Hariri murder, has significantly risen in the past weeks with reports that the court will indict "rogue" members of Hezbollah.

The powerful Shiite group denies the allegations, saying these were based on the testimonies of individuals who misled the investigations.