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.
Lebanese speaker Nabih Berri declared that expediting the
formation of the cabinet has become a matter of urgency in order to deal with a
number of pending issues, noting that the internal situation of the country
cannot bear further procrastination and void.
In a statement to
as-Safir Daily, Berri said that the failure
to form a new cabinet will be a disaster striking institutional stability, the
resistance and Sunni-Shiite relations, calling on all parties to
participate in solving the situation.
However, Berri considered that Hezbollah, the Amal Movement
and the head of the Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun are not hindering the formation of the cabinet, but March 14 forces on the other
hand are the ones who are imposing impossible conditions such as excluding
Hezbollah from the cabinet formula.
Concerning the parliamentary session expected to be held on Tuesday,
Berri stressed that he is not considering removing any item from the session’s
agenda, noting that once the parliament convenes, the agenda can be amended
accordingly. He pointed out that in case the parliament fails to convene for
lack of quorum, he will set a new date for a new session.
Commenting on a parliamentary petition which is being
prepared, he said that "a petition would not change anything nor will it oblige
him to commit to any condition."
On another note, he revealed that he is preparing a
constitutional formula that will allow the extension of the mandate of Lebanese
Armed Forces Commander General Jean Kahwagi, should a new cabinet fail to be
formed or a parliamentary session fail to convene before the end of his term
in September 2013.
The
leader of the Lebanese Forces party Samir Geagea said that a cabinet cannot be formed
if it includes members from Hezbollah, “not because we have a veto on it, but because Lebanon cannot accept to have a party fighting in Syria as a member of
its cabinet,” as he said.
In
a statement to
as-Safir Daily, Geagea warned against appointing members of
Hezbollah as ministers in the upcoming cabinet, stressing that such move will
prove that the cabinet accepts or protects the participation of a Lebanese
party in the Syrian conflict, placing Lebanon in a dangerous situation.
“We
will have a cabinet of war against the Syrian people, most of the Arab
countries and the international community, and Lebanon would turn into a
country that looks like the isolated North Korea,”Geagea added.
“In
order to facilitate the task, we, the March 14 forces, accept to remain out of the
cabinet, just like Hezbollah, even if it were unfair for us,” he
continued.
Concerning
their participation in Tuesday’s parliamentary session, the LF leader stressed
that they will keep on boycotting, reiterating that the agenda drafted by speaker
Nabih Berri is not constitutional.
The latest positions launched by members of the Free
Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah reflected a will aiming at solving the disputes that
erupted lately between the two parties due to a number of parliamentary cases.
In this context,
al-Akhbar newspaper reported that a possible
meeting is scheduled to be held soon between MP Michel Aoun and Hezbollah
Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, noting that this meeting will come
as the culmination of a series of consultations and discussions conducted by
members of the FPM and the Resistance.
Sheikh Abbas Zgheib who was appointed by the Higher Islamic
Shiite Council to follow up on the case of the Lebanese hostages in Aazaz, said
that they are not concerned with the statements launched by Liwaa Asifat al-Chamal,
since it was not launched as an official Turkish position, stressing that the
negotiations are being held with Turkish officials who have the power to solve such issues.
Zgheib told
Acharq al-Awsat Newspaper that in case the
Lebanese hostages were harmed, the Turkish authorities will be held responsible;
pointing out that the relatives of the hostages did not receive any new information
regarding the case, while contacts are ongoing with Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim.
However, Zgheib denied any involvement of Hezbollah in the
negotiations conducted in order to release the hostages, stressing that the
party is not concerned with the case.
Sources close to Hezbollah told
an-Nahar Daily that when
Hezbollah refuses to present any concessions on the regional level despite the campaign launched against it on the backdrop of its participation in the Syrian
conflict, it will certainly not accept to present concessions on the local
scene.
The sources added that Hezbollah has not presented any
concession since the resolution 1559 was issued in September 2004, 1701 in 2006
and resolution 1757 in 2007, stressing that the party is committed to
participating in the cabinet according to its parliamentary size.