Lebanon: A new defendant linked to Hezbollah was added in the Dahr al-Bidar explosives case, bringing the total to 9. The new defendant is one of the drivers of the two cars that accompanied the delivery of the explosives. The case was not transferred to the Council of Justice, and sources in the Lebanese forces said that their ministers would withdraw from the upcoming meeting if the reference did not come up for a vote. Major General Hassan Shakir mediated the case in the media, amid reports of promises received by Hezbollah that the prosecution would be conducted as misdemeanors, not as criminal offenses. Hezbollah sources described the result as a partial pacification, not a real pacification.