BEIRUT: The journalist at the center of a political storm following the publication of an interview with a wanted Hezbollah member accused of assassinating statesman Rafik Hariri was summoned to the Justice Palace for questioning Monday, as officials from rival blocs continued to trade blows over the article.

TIME magazine correspondent Nicholas Blanford met with State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza in the presence of his lawyer in spite of the reporter’s insistence that he knew nothing about where the contentious interview came from.

“[TIME editors in New York] said they had an interview [with a suspect]. What struck me as a surprise was how they got the interview,” Blanford told The Daily Star. “The interview came out of the blue for me after I’d been commissioned to write an analysis piece.

“My name is the only one associated with the article, so I’m the starting point [for investigations],” he added.

The interview appeared online Thursday evening and was supposedly with one of the four men accused by the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon of the 2005 assassination of Hariri. In it, the interviewee denied the charges against him and boasted that although Lebanese authorities knew where he was, they were unable to arrest him.

The piece in question did not carry a byline and was said to have been conducted by “a TIME reporter,” while Blanford’s name appeared on a separate piece in which excerpts from the interview were used. The magazine has defended the article.

Although the STL has so far refused to comment on the interview, Blanford said that if court investigators wanted to speak with him, he would cooperate.

“If they wanted to meet me and talk, I can’t say no,” he said.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said the article was “dangerous” and sought to target Hezbollah.

“We have to be careful not to allow these attempts to harm our stability,” he said. “[Journalists] have an important and effective role [in this].”

He stressed that his ministry was cooperating with the international court, as Lebanon is obligated to do under agreements it signed with the U.N. in 2007.

“The relationship between the STL and the Lebanese government is through the Prosecutor General’s office and when there are any issues within the prerogatives of the Interior Ministry we won’t hesitate and will cooperate all the way to the end,” Charbel was quoted as saying by the Central News Agency.

Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi joined Charbel by saying that Lebanon would cooperate with “all decisions of the STL.”

The controversial nature of the article has reignited debate over Lebanon’s most divisive issue. Supporters of the court alleged that the government is unable to capture the four suspects because they are under the security cloak of Hezbollah; tribunal detractors have labeled the STL a conspiracy and argue that the TIME interview had been falsified.

Hezbollah was quick to deny any party official had spoken to the magazine.

Loyalty to the Resistance MP Ali Fayyad said the article was “a fiasco.”

“This proves the degree of the politicized maneuver targeting Hezbollah, which would not fall in this strife, whatever the provocative attempts are,” the Hasbaya MP said during an iftar.

He accused March 14 of seeking to bring the government into confrontation with the international community by blaming Hezbollah for authorities’ inability to arrest the accused.

“Some March 14 leaders are always ready to prove the innocence of Israel from any accusation, if accusing Hezbollah requires that,” he added.

Future Movement MP Ammar Houri said that Hezbollah was preventing the arrest of suspects.

“The government does not have the authority or the ability [to apprehend suspects] because Hezbollah is the one who directs matters, decides and deals with all issues in the country,” he said.The Beirut lawmaker added that the TIME interview had “created tension within some groups.”

Mohammad Chatah, a long-term adviser to former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, accused Hezbollah of seeking to discredit the STL. “The suspects and their close friends do not have a choice but to defend themselves and go to their defense in any way because they know that the STL exists either with them or without them, unless they are able to prove it is completely illegitimate,” Chatah told Future TV.

Blanford, who also writes for The Times in London, Christian Science Monitor and this newspaper, said that his employers at TIME had been supportive and provided a lawyer. “I didn’t write the interview. I stand by my analysis and the interview was a tag on and it’s kind of dragged into all this farce,” he said. “We will have to wait and see.”