The
following are summaries of today's major stories published in the Arabic press.
LBCI does not edit press digest articles for content, giving English-language
readers insight into the various views expressed in newspapers across the Arab
world.
Speaker
Nabih Berri told
An-Nahar daily that he approves of the proposal put forth by
the March 14 camp and prepared by former PM Fouad Siniora provided that the 8.9
trillion LBP draft law is presented hand in hand with the $11 billion draft law
and that the cabinet studies it thoroughly.
Berri told
An-Nahar and
As-Safir that when the $11 billion draft law is almost complete
and is referred to the concerned committees and parliament, he will include it
along with the 8.9 trillion billion draft law in the same agenda to be
discussed in one session.
Berri
revealed that he had briefed National Struggle Front leader MP Walid Jumblatt
on the details of his previous plan without informing the FPM and Hezbollah
about it, adding that the plan included “one integrated basket” that would look
into the $11 billion expenditure and the 69 laws and would compel the cabinet
to set its budget in a determined period of time.
An-Nahar
reported on Wednesday that former PM Saad Hariri will deliver a speech today
from the KSA, adding that the speech would be aired on a giant screen in Beit
al-Wasat.
Former PM
Fouad Siniora will also announce the Future Movement’s political manifesto
titled “the Future Movement and the Horizons of the Arab Spring.”
The daily
added that the March 14 leaders gathered at night in Beit al-Wasat where they
reviewed the guidelines of the manifesto.
As-Safir
daily reported on Wednesday that, less than a month ago, Maronite Patriarch
Beshara Rai called on each sect to return to its “historical national
consciousness” in order to conclude a new social contract that would renew the
National Pact and steer the country clear off international-regional axis. The
daily added that, on Tuesday, Rai voiced a new yet seen before position towards
the Syrian regime as he said that “the closest thing to democracy is Syria.”
The daily
wondered “what would push Rai to adopt such a position towards the Syrian
regime? Why would he adopt the speech of fear and the need of reassurance and
protection? Why does he have such a
bleak approach to the Arab Spring which he sometimes describes as ‘fall’ and at
times as ‘winter’?”
In this
context, an official affiliated with a certain Christian party questioned the
wisdom of such positions ahead of two visits, one to Qatar and another to
Jordan.
On the other
hand, ecclesial sources endorse Rai’s positions as an ecclesial official said
that Rai’s statements are taken out of context and misinterpreted and he
wondered “why no one commented Rai’s statement that said ‘we don’t want to be
taken as supporters of the Syrian regime’?”
Asharq
al-Awsat reported on Wednesday that, according to a Wikileaks cable, Iran made
an offer to Syrian President Bashar Assad, through a high-ranking Iraqi
official, that includes his stepping down.
According to
the cable, Iran did not want to make the offer “directly” to Assad, thus it
resorted to an Iraqi official that has a personal relationship with the Assad
family. The U.S., has rejected this plan since it helps Iran gain more
influence in the post-Assad Syria.
The cable
also mentioned Assad’s mother who is frustrated because of “the chaos caused by
each of Assad and Maher”. She has accordingly repeated that “if your father
were alive, things would have not got to this point.”