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 Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun told
an-Nahar Daily that he met with Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan
Nasrallah without specifying the date or the place of the meeting.
“Yes we met and we discussed the general situation, and I will
not give any further details,” Aoun said, denying any disputes between the parties
and justifying Hezbollah’s involvement in al-Qussair as ‘a necessity to prevent
a civil war.”
While he stressed that Lebanon is witnessing a dangerous
stage, he reiterated that a new cabinet must be formed as soon as possible,
calling on the Prime Minister-Designate Tammam Salam to resign if he finds himself unable to form a government.
In this context, Aoun rejected a fait accompli cabinet,
adding that failure to reach agreement within the government will lead to dangerous
security troubles.
Commenting on the extension of the mandate of Lebanese Armed
Forces Commander General Jean Kahwagi, Aoun said that should the ministers fail
to meet to appoint a new LAF commander, it means that there an intention to
destroy Lebanon.
Sources close to the Future bloc revealed that MP Fouad
Siniora is set to travel on Sunday to Saudi Arabia heading a delegation from
the bloc, in order to hold talks with MP Saad Hariri.
The sources told
an-Nahar Daily that the Future bloc called
for the formation of a new cabinet without taking into consideration the
pending issues of the dialogue table, noting that today’s priority is reaching
a government of peaceful people, not fighters and of non-partisan politicians
who can handle the country’s affairs.
Sources close to March 14 and the Future bloc told
al-Hayat Newspaper that they are more willing to respond to the call of
President Michel Sleiman to dialogue than to that of Hezbollah Secretary
General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, noting that it was a positive step made by
Nasrallah to announce that he is ready to take part in dialogue.
On the other hand, impartial sources told the same daily
that the importance of Sleiman’s call to dialogue is related to the fact that
the dialogue committee, once convened, will be obliged to tackle Hezbollah’s participation
in the Syrian war, noting that President Sleiman’s main concern is that all the
parties will commit to the Baabda Declaration.
However, another March 14 source explained that Nasrallah’s
latest speech whereby he sought calmness comes after the European Union declared it is seriously considering adding Hezbollah to its terror list.
The source added that Nasrallah only tackled his party’s involvement
in the Syrian conflict in one sentence, but focused in his statement on
stressing that he is ready to participate in national dialogue as a component of the Lebanese political
life, and calling on everyone to support the Lebanese army, in a bid to send a
message to the EU that Hezbollah is not a terrorist organization.
Member of the Future bloc MP Ammar Houry declared that
despite their complete rejection to blacklisting Hezbollah, he said that the party
has dragged itself into such dilemma, recalling the strong efforts deployed by
late Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri before his assassination in order to prevent
the European Union from adding Hezbollah to its terror list.
In a statement to
Acharq al-Awsat Newspaper, Houry
stressed that blacklisting Hezbollah will have negative repercussions on
Lebanon.
“We have warned Hezbollah against getting involved in
terror acts, whether it was in the Syrian crisis or in Bulgaria, Cyprus and
other states," he stated.