Introduction to the evening news 13-02-2013

Fire still burns beneath the ashes at cabinet despite the fact that it jumped over landmines without having to dismantle them, in the wait of next week’s sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday. However, Tuesday’s session will be dedicated for the ranks and salaries series.   

This as, the cabinet decided to consult with the Supreme Advisory Committee presided by the Minister of Justice regarding the election supervisory body issue. Despite this suggested solution, Minister Gebran Bassil took an escalatory step and announced that the ministers of the Change and Reform bloc, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement will not be concerned with any decision issued by the supervisory body.   

As for the bombshell related to the telecom data issue, it seems that it was diffused to the advantage of the Prime Minister. In fact, the minister of information announced that the telecom data issue has been discussed in previous sessions, hinting that talks over this issue were over.   

The landmines of the cabinet session were faced with landmines on the table of the parliamentary sub-committee; despite all efforts to show signs of a small improvement, the exchange of draft laws and suggestions still implies that the new electoral law is bound by a mountain of pre-conditions and counter-conditions.     

In the latest updates on the Arsal incident, LAF Commander Jean Kahwaji voiced 3 NOs: NO compromise, NO truce with the soldiers’ killers and no secret agreements on the blood of martyrs.      

In a pure diplomatic development, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem is expected to head to Moscow at the end of the month. His visit will coincide with the stay of Moaz al-Khatib in Russia. Meanwhile, Qatar decided to hand the Syrian embassy in Doha to the Syrian opposition.

All these developments and more in our detailed news bulletin.