Michel Samaha, Lebanon's former information minister, is back in prison and even his onetime supporters don't seem to mind much, as rival parties appear to be making some progress on the political front.

Samaha, known for his close ties with the Syrian regime, was arrested Aug. 9, 2012, on charges of transporting explosives from Syria to Lebanon in his own car and planning to assassinate Lebanese political leaders. In the investigations, Samaha reportedly mentioned that the targets were high-ranking figures. In February 2013, Military Judge Riad Abu Ghida had even recommended the death penalty for Samaha and Syrian Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk, one of the main pillars of the Syrian security regime.

When Samaha was finally sentenced last year, he received a 4½-year term. The decision infuriated the Sunni community, as Samaha had been found guilty of planning to execute a Syrian regime-orchestrated plot to trigger sectarian strife in Lebanon. Amid sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shiites that had reached a peak in Lebanon and in the region, his sentence triggered a barrage of objections, especially among the March 14 Alliance, a coalition of political parties that opposes both the Syrian regime and the regime's Shiite ally, Hezbollah.

A retrial was quickly ordered. Pending the do-over, the Military Court of Cassation released Samaha on bail Jan. 14 — which of course did not go over well, either. But by April 8, the court had rendered an irreversible sentence totaling almost 10 years with hard labor and stripped Samaha of his civil rights. (The official sentence was 13 years, but under Lebanese law, a prison year only equals nine months.)