Introduction to the evening news 17-01-2012

The mission of the Arab monitors in Damascus is about to end in exactly two days. At the end of this week, the Arab foreign ministers will have 3 options: either cancel the mission - which is ruled out -, extend it - which is likely to happen –, or enhance it by increasing the number of armed observers to 3,000. The last option raises questions and difficulties, as Arab League sources revealed that the camp that will support this step will be faced by the refusal of Arab leaders not far from Damascus such as Iraq, Algeria and Lebanon and countries that are worried about internal turmoil such as Jordan and Bahrain. Kuwait might also join the list as it seemed unenthusiastic about it, unlike Qatar and Saudi Arabia that are eager to isolate President Bashar Assad to weaken Tehran.        

Backed by Moscow, Damascus strongly refused to receive Arab troops, but accepted that the Arab monitoring mission continues, however without allowing the expansion of their mandate to include military zones.         

Meanwhile, Israel voiced its concern over the fate of the massive stocks of chemical and biological weapons in Syria should the regime fall, wondering about the share that will be given to Hezbollah and other factions.        

In Lebanon, it has been confirmed that the wage adjustment decree will be put on the table of the cabinet session tomorrow according to two legal formulas, as explained by the labor minister; the first one is based on the proposal of minister Charbel Nahas and the second one relies on the previous agreement concluded between the economic bodies and the GLC under the auspices of the prime minister.         

In parallel, the interest in the building’s collapse in Ashrafieh continued and the concerns of many residents inside and outside the capital turned into panic.