Press Digest for Tuesday July 30, 2013

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.

• Hamadeh: Aoun is not allowed to speak about violating laws and the constitution 

MP Marwan Hamadeh said that MP Michel Aoun is the last person in Lebanon qualified to speak about the violation of the constitution and the laws, noting that he is the one who has been hindering the constitutional institutions since 1988 when he hampered the presidential elections and cosequently dragged Lebanon into war.                  

In a statement to al-Joumhouria Daily, Hamadeh said that Aoun is covering the violations committed in the institutions through allowing the possession and use of illegal weapons in Lebanon and abroad, placing the security situation and civil peace at risk.                

• Salam can form a national unity cabinet without isolating Hezbollah -sources

Source close to the cabinet formation process told al-Joumhouria Daily that Prime Minister-Designate Tammam Salam can form a cabinet of national unity without isolating Hezbollah while choosing independent ministers who will not be used as “tools to implement dictates.”            

The same sources added that Salam is able to form a cabinet that does not include a blocking third, but a third that can prevent it from turning into a “knife to stab the resistance in the back”.                

For his part, the PM-Designate Tammam Salam told as-Safir Daily that the cabinet formation process should not be subject to conditions imposed by the rival parties, stressing that he seeks to form a government that reassures all the parties and serve their interests while committing to national unity.                    

“No one can tell me what to do and what not to do and there are no reports of a Saudi veto over Hezbollah’s participation in the cabinet,” he said.                          

• Charbel: We stand on the verge of a disaster concerning the Syrian refugees

Caretaker Interior and Municipalities Minister Marwan Charbel said that the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon is expected to exceed two million by the end of the year.                  

“If the situation remains as it is, then Lebanon stands on the verge of a disaster in the case of the refugees,” Charbel told as-Safir Daily, stressing the need to implement exceptional measures in this regard.                          

• Hariri received several calls to return, especially from Hezbollah -sources
  

Sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper that former Prime Minister Saad Hariri received several calls to return to Lebanon, especially from Hezbollah through diplomatic channels, not only from Speaker Nabih Berri.                          

However, Hariri is not currently considering returning due to the difficult security situation, but is seeking to improve his interaction with his supporters across the country. The sources added that according to Hariri, the series of assassination has not yet ended.