Aldin who is suspected of being behind the assassination is also the brother in-law of Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh who was killed in 2008 in a car-bomb attack in Damascus, while reportedly in the midst of planning major terrorist attacks in moderate Arab countries. Aldin’s name has been mentioned as a candidate to replace Mughniyeh as Hezbollah's chief operations officer.

The Channel 1 report stated that Aldin, who is also known by the name "Elias Sa'ab", commanded the failed attempt to assassinate Kuwait's ruler in 1985.

Last Thursday it was published that Hezbollah members are expected to face charges in the Hariri assassination. Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah addressed this and blamed the United States and Israel, saying the expected indictments were part of a Zionist and American plot to push their Middle East agenda. He suggested that Israel was in fact behind the assassination and said of the tribunal that looked into the Hariri killing: “As long as it didn't focus on Israeli involvement, it's not an honest tribunal.”

Hezbollah has several times denied that it is behind the Hariri assassination. Last year, following an article in the German news weekly Der Spiegel that charged Hezbollah with being behind the assassination, Hezbollah called the report an Israeli-American conspiracy "aimed at sowing discord between [Lebanon's] Sunnis and Shi'ites."

Thursday’s report on Channel 1 added that current Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri (Rafik's son) is pressuring the Special Tribunal for Lebanon not to publish Aldin’s identity as a prime suspect in his father’s killing due to his government's ties with Hezbollah, which is currently a part of Lebanon’s coalition government.

Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar Assad and Saudi King Abdullah will travel to Beirut on Friday as part of the Saudi king’s tour of the Middle East. This will be the Saudi king’s first visit to the country since 2002. Assad and Abdullah are expected to meet President Michel Sleiman as well as PM Hariri and members of his national unity government to discuss ways to maintain stability in Lebanon.