BEIRUT: Hezbollah accused the U.N.-backed probe into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri Friday of operating a secret second office in Beirut during its investigation, as a party lawmaker invited a television news crew into an apartment he claimed was used by court staff.

Tyre MP Nawaf Musawi, following his disclosure to Parliament Thursday that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) had maintained an “office” in south Beirut, claimed that staff working under court Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare had interviewed Hezbollah members in an innocuous looking flat near Mar Mikhael Church, Shiyah.

Musawi told Al-Jadeed Television that Bellemare’s investigation had interrogated Hezbollah members in three separate tranches during the probe into Hariri’s killing.

Bellemare’s office declined to comment on the claims.

“The allegations you mention relate to operational matters. As you can no doubt appreciate, we do not comment on the investigation or on any operational matters as a matter of policy, in order to protect the integrity of the investigation,” a spokesperson told The Daily Star.

The prosecutor issued his first indictment to authorities in Beirut last week, more than two years after the STL was established. Judicial sources suggested that the names of four Hezbollah members, including two senior party commanders, were named in the sealed indictment. Musawi said that those men had not been contacted by investigators.

The STL’s Lebanese staff was based in the Monte Verde Hotel, in the mountains east of Beirut.