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.
Al-Hayat Daily
reported that the number of gunmen who kidnapped the Turkish Airlines pilots on
the Cocodi Bridge on Friday were four, while the number of those who remained
in the two cars is still unknown, adding that some of the kidnappers stood at the
side of the highway and told the vehicles to change their direction “claiming that an
accident took place on the bridge”.
On another note,
the Political Adviser of the Turkish President
Ershad Hermezli
regretted that the relatives of the Lebanese hostages in Aazaz welcomed the
abduction of the Turkish pilots, noting that his country had deployed every
possible effort in the case but “its capabilities are limited.”
In a statement to
Acharq al-Awsat Daily, Hermezli
expressed his confidence that the Lebanese authorities will help in the release
of the Turkish abductees, calling on the kidnappers to release the Turkish
nationals. He noted that the kidnapping logic harms Lebanon’s image, stating
that the kidnappers are the ones who abducted Turkish nationals before and that
the organization that claimed responsibility of the incident “does not exist.”
Caretaker Interior
and municipalities Minister Marwan Charbel stressed that there is no danger
threatening the UNIFIL, stressing that, according to the data provided by the
General Security, there are at least 300 Turkish tourists in Lebanon.
In a statement to
Acharq al-Awsat Newspaper, Charbel noted that the security forces are conducting patrols in the vicinity of the hotels in order to control the situation and
reassure the tourists in Lebanon.
Acharq al-Awsat Daily reported that the Lebanese General Security
has started to implement new legal measures, following the instructions issued
by the Lebanese government, concerning the organization of the entry of
Palestinian and Syrian refugees into Lebanon.
In this context, sources from an international institution told
the daily that at least 100 Palestinians are still trapped at the
Lebanese-Syrian borders after the General Security has prevented them from
crossing into Lebanon.
However, a senior source from General Security told
Acharq
al-Awsat that there is no decision banning the Palestinian refugees from
entering Lebanon, stressing that the new measures will be applied on all the displaced
from Syria to Lebanon, whether they were Syrians or Palestinians.
The source added that the problem at the borders is the result of
the application of measures taken before the eruption of the Syrian crisis.
The proposal pertaining to the formation of a neutral cabinet was
back to the forefront after President Michel Sleiman and the head of the
National Struggle Front stated that they may resort to it. This comes as former
PM Saad Hariri launched an initiative whereby he said that his team and
Hezbollah should not participate in the new cabinet.
Accordingly, sources close to Jumblatt told
al-Hayat Daily that,
despite all the facts, Jumblatt still consider that the war in Syria will last a few
more years since the western states are reluctant in supporting the rebels,
stressing that the regime will fall at the end.
On the other hand, the sources said that Jumblatt’s remarks
whereby he called on Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to
reconsider his calculations came as he believes that the battle will not end
soon and that Hezbollah’s intervention will not help Assad triumph, but will only
harm the party and Lebanon.