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.
An-Nahar Daily reported
that President Michel Sleiman is still insisting on sending a memorandum to the
United Nations in order to inform the Security Council of the Syrian violations
against Lebanon's sovereignty, while Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour is
opposing such a move.
Accordingly, the
newspaper added that discussions were held in this regard between Sleiman,
caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Lebanon’s permanent representative at
the UN, ambassador Nawaf Salam, whereby they agreed to only inform the UN of the
violations.
In this context, sources
noted that Mansour considers that this issue is related to the cabinet and the
country's foreign policy, while President Sleiman sees that the matter concerns his
position and prerogatives.
Caretaker Interior and
Municipalities Minister Marwan Charbel stressed that President Michel Sleiman
gave his instructions to the security apparatuses, calling on them to pursue
their investigations in the case of the Bekaa murders to reveal the criminals and prosecute
them.
In a statement to
al-Akhbar Newspaper, Charbel, who met with Sleiman and caretaker PM Najib Mikati
at the Baabda Presidential Palace on Monday, noting that Sleiman praised the stance
taken by the clans in the northern Bekaa who expressed patience and awareness to avoid falling
into strife.
However, Charbel pointed
out that the issue of turning the Bekaa region into a military zone was not discussed
during the tripartite meeting since it requires holding a cabinet and
parliamentary sessions, stressing that the situation is not “that dangerous, since all concerned parties are cooperating with the security forces in a bid to prevent
strife.”
Top parliamentary
sources from the Future bloc reported that the Future Movement supports the
Prime Minister-Designate Tammam Salam in his work in order to take the
appropriate decision regarding the cabinet.
The sources told
al-Akhbar Newspaper that the issue of the cabinet formation is pending awaiting
the decision of the constitutional council expected to be issued later in the
day regarding the appeals presented against the law of extension of the
Parliament's mandate.
The same sources added
that the Future Movement and Salam will await the decision of the council before making their move.
Bassil: Hezbollah betrayed FPM and democracy
Caretaker Energy Minister Gebran Bassil said that “Hezbollah
has betrayed the Free Patriotic Movement and betrayed democracy concerning the
extension of the Parliament term,” stressing on the other hand that this will not affect the
strategic alliance between both parties, since the differences regarding this
issue have been clear since the beginning.
Commenting on Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria, Bassil told
Acharq al-Awsat Daily that the FPM understands Hezbollah’s interference in
Syria’s al-Qusayr to defend itself and defend Lebanon, noting that this understanding
has limits.
“The party should not go too far in its intervention,”
Bassil added, admitting that Hezbollah’s actions may affect the relations
between Lebanon and the Arab States, calling on Arab officials to abstain
from sanctioning any Lebanese citizen based on his/her confessional or political background.
In his concluding remarks, Bassil urged Gulf citizens to travel to
Lebanon, stressing that “the summer season in Lebanon is 'meaningless' without
them.”
Egyptian ambassador to Lebanon Ashraf Hamdi explained that
the there is no special security measures concerning Egypt’s embassy in Beirut,
following the decision issued by the Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi to cut off diplomatic
relations with Syria, pointing out that the measures which have been taken so
far do not go beyond the normal measures applicable to the given situation.
In a statement to
al-Joumhouria Daily, Hamdi stressed that
special measures are not needed following the decision to close the
Egyptian embassy in Syria and to withdraw the Egyptian charge d’affaires from
Damascus.