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.
As-Safir
daily learned Monday that the reports Speaker Nabih Berri has been receiving
raise further concerns, mainly over the possible involvement of the Palestinian
camps in the tension prevailing on the Lebanese scene.
In
this context, Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour urged Palestinian
Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to immediately send an envoy to Lebanon. Accordingly,
the Palestinian official Azzam Al-Ahmad later arrived in Beirut where he met
with Berri who shared with him the information he has, saying “Lebanon has
offered a lot for the Palestinians and their cause as is
expecting the same in return, I urge you to take immediate action to extinguish the [fires] of strife plotted
by some parties that want to take the camps as their base of operation.”
Berri
added to his Palestinian visitor: “I know the names of those plotting to assassinate
me; I know where they meet and what their plan is - Here is a list of their
names.”
Sources
following up on the case of the Lebanese hostages told
Al-Akhbar daily that the
Turkish government as well as former PM Saad Hariri are exerting assiduous efforts
with regard to the case, especially since the failure to release the abducted
men has negatively affected their image.
According
to sources following up on the relevant negotiations, Hariri had offered a
ransom in return for the release of the kidnapped pilgrims, which facilitated
the agreement reached last Friday before it was obstructed at the last minute for
undisclosed reasons.
The sources stressed that Hariri, had earlier informed
the Turkish government that the kidnapping case constitutes a national issue
that should be resolved in any possible way to preserve Lebanon’s civil peace. Hariri is
trying to play all his pressure cards to secure the release of the hostages to
the point that he has threatened to cut off his financial support to the Syrian
revolution, the source added.
Al-Akhbar
daily reported that, after the Turkish intelligence had determined the location
of the Lebanese hostages and their kidnappers, it informed Turkey’s foreign
ministry of the news. Accordingly, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced
the news immediately to different Lebanese factions whom expressed relief
after earlier condemning the kidnapping.
The daily added that, an unforeseen event later occurred
when the hostages were reported to be “lost” somewhere between the Syrian territory
and Turkey’s Adana airport.
According to the sources, one of the explanations
that could be given for the twist of events is that the Turkish foreign ministry
was too hasty in its announcement of the release of the hostages which, in
turn, paved the way for the interference of the U.S. and Qatar.
Al-Joumhouria daily reported that a delegation of
the opposition will visit President Michel Suleiman to inform him of the decisions
taken during its recent meeting as well
as its intention to boycott the dialogue if a “neutral cabinet” was not formed
first .
The Washington Post reported on Monday that, in November, the tide of daily cable traffic to the U.S. Embassy in
Azerbaijan brought a message for Ambassador Matthew Bryza, then the top U.S.
diplomat to the small Central Asian country.
The message read that a plot to kill
Americans had been uncovered and embassy officials were on the target list.
U.S. and Middle Eastern officials see the attempts as part of a broader
campaign by Iran-linked operatives to kill foreign diplomats in at least seven
countries over a span of 13 months.
The targets have included two Saudi
officials, a half-dozen Israelis and — in the Azerbaijan case — several
Americans, the officials say.
In recent weeks, investigators working in four countries have amassed
new evidence tying the disparate assassination attempts to one another and
linking all of them to either Iran-backed Hezbollah militants or operatives
based inside Iran, according to U.S. and Middle Eastern security officials.
An
official report last month summarizing the evidence cited phone records,
forensic tests, coordinated travel arrangements and even cellphone SIM cards
purchased in Iran and used by several of the would-be assailants, said two
officials who have seen the six-page document.