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.
The head of the “Future” bloc,
MP Fouad Siniora, declared that the current cabinet contributed in the
deterioration of the situations in all the fields, stressing that it is time to
correct the mistakes committed by the cabinet.
Siniora told
Acharq al-Awsat
daily that Hezbollah lost a great number of supporters among the Lebanese
people when he turned his weapons to Lebanon and used them in internal balances.
Siniora added: “we hoped that
Hezbollah prevents the Syrian regime from practicing violence on its citizens
and the Lebanese people. We think that the position taken by Hezbollah to support
the Syrian regime is wrong”.
Commenting on the Russian
stance on the Syrian crisis, Siniora said that this stance has behind it a
number of unsolved issues.
Siniora expressed his
objection regarding the position of the Lebanese government concerning Syria’s
events, because it distanced itself, noting that these kinds of issues need a
clear position from the Lebanese government.
An-Nahar daily reported that the
silence of the media surrounding the case of the 11 hostages in Aleppo is a
result of Turkish request for Lebanon to calm down, so that Ankara would be
able to solve this issue with the abductors.
Accordingly, Hezbollah began demanding
the media to help in this case and asking the hostages’ relatives to calm down.
Sources revealed that the
abductors believed that there is a possibility to raise the ceiling of the
negotiations when they saw how the Lebanese media and the politicians overreacted.
Consequently, the situation became more complicated and required a new series
of efforts.
Former Justice Minister Charles
Rizk said that there is no such thing as a “Lebanese political situation”, but
a Syrian situation affecting Lebanon, since the beginning of the war during the
70s. Rizk noted that Syria’s situation implies Lebanon’s, whether negatively or
positively.
Rizk told
An-Nahar newspaper that
it is absurd to think that the Syrian regime is at its end, stressing that this
regime is capable to survive for a longer period.
Rizk said that the Syrian
President Bachar Assad and his regime are a front that benefits Russia, Iran
and somehow China, in order to impose his diplomatic power.
Commenting on the electoral law,
Rizk declared that any attempt to change the electoral law, without
reestablishing the concept of two political blocs, each one including all
confessions and segments of society, is useless.
A top French source told
Al-Hayat
newspaper that Paris, under President Francois Hollande is very
interested in Lebanon, as Hollande may contact his Lebanese counterpart Michel
Sleiman soon. The source added that the French FM Laurent Fabios may call PM
Najib Mikati during a series of meetings with Arab delegations, on the margins
of Turkey’s Terrorism forum.
According to the daily, Paris finds
that the Syrian pressure on Mikati is growing every day, and that Tripoli events
result from an implication by the Syrian regime, which shows that this regime
is in a difficult situation.
Information received by the
French authorities reveal that the Syrian regime is no longer controlling 60%
of the territory, as demonstrations increased with the arrival of the monitors
in Syria.
However, the Syrian army is still
cohesive and the intelligence is still effective. Paris also considers that the
hostages issue has put Hezbollah is in a difficult situation.