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.
Hajja Hayat Awali
stressed that the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau is the Future Movement’s security
service, noting that as long as it is the case, she has the right to refuse to
comply with their orders.
In a statement to
al-Akhbar Daily on Wednesday, Hajja Hayat said that Intelligence Bureau has been sending
the judiciary falsified information, expressing her surprise toward the fact
that they were summoned by the judicial authorities, after one year of protests
and sit-ins.
In this context, she
added that she may have responded to the judiciary’s summon had she not been
informed of the arrest warrants by media outlets, mainly the Turkish media, explaining that she read the news on the Turkish Anatolia news agency.
“Is it possible? We
accuse Turkey of kidnapping our relatives in Aazaz, and we receive the news
about arrest warrants issued against us by the judiciary through the
Turkish media! This proves that everything is happening to
satisfy the Turkish officials who visited Lebanon in the past few days,” Hajja
Hayat said.
Caretaker Interior
Minister Marwan Charbel declared that he is now relying on the outcome of the
expected meeting to be held in Ankara with Turkish officials as well as with
the Director General of General Security Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, noting that
the Lebanese authorities are awaiting the “right conditions for the visit in
order to guarantee its success.”
In statement to
al-Joumhouria Newspaper, Charbel explained that he did not mean to acquit
anyone from the charge of kidnapping the Turkish pilots, but all he wanted to
clarify was that the case of the Lebanese hostages in Aazaz is not geographically
related to the abduction of the Turkish pilots.
“The Turkish pilots were kidnapped
on the Lebanese territories, while the Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped in
Syria,” he said, stressing that he is protecting the authority of the Lebanese
state, which refuses to exchange the Lebanese hostages by Turkish nationals
abducted on Lebanese soil.
On another note, Charbel
said that he did not achieve any progress in the case of the Turkish pilots’
abduction despite the efforts deployed by the security apparatuses.
However, the caretaker
minister told
al-Liwaa Daily that he still awaits a call from the Turkish
authorities to set up a quadripartite meeting that will be held in the Turkish
capital and which will include officials from Lebanon, Turkey and Qatar as well as
representatives of the Syrian kidnappers.
In an article published in
An-Nahar Daily on Wednesday reports state that Lebanese citizens are divided in their
points of view regarding security measures implemented in Beirut’s
Southern Suburbs.
According to the article, security checkpoints are being set up across several streets to
search vehicles passing by and to check the identities of the commuters.
Some
people said that such measures are necessary as a source of tranquility and to
prevent another explosion from taking place, while others considered that these
acts are a violation of the constitution and prove the existence of a “statelet
within the state.”
For their part, March 8 and March 14 camps have
also had different views concerning the situation. According to
an-Nahar Newspaper,
the head of the executive committee of the Amal Movement Mohammad Nasrallah
stressed that the measures taken in south Beirut are a necessity due to the
results of the last explosion and the security threat reigning over the region.
In turn, member of the Future bloc MP Khaled
Zahraman stressed that his party supports the security measures taken in order
to prevent another attack, noting on the other hand that “self-security is a
regrettable phenomenon, because similar reactions could take place in other
regions that have witnessed similar attacks.”
An-Nahar Daily reported that, according to
intelligence, Sheikh Ahmad Assir is currently living in a mosque in the Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp, noting that the Islamist
Haytham al-Chaabi and a group of gunmen are protecting him. The source added
that Assir is contacting his supporters across Lebanon from an operation room
located in the vicinity of the mosque.
This as, former singer Fadel Shaker is said to be residing in the camp’s al-Taamir neighborhood, stressing that he is in
constant contact with Ahmad Assir.
Sources form the Future bloc said that Hezbollah’s rush to
get involved in the Syrian war and to impose self-security in Lebanon led the movement to launch its stance against the party's action, pointing
out that the bloc's criticism against the party does not deny its strong condemnation of the crime perpetrated by terrorist groups against
innocent civilians.
However, the bloc told
an-Nahar Daily that Hezbollah
Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and his party are held responsible for
the country’s unstable situation, due to the Shiite party's reckless decision to interfere in
the Syrian war and to impose “militant security measures” in the Beirut’s
Southern Suburbs and other regions in the South and Bekaa, under the pretext of
fighting against terrorist acts.
The bloc stressed that such measures are completely
rejected and constitute an attack against the state, the people and legitimacy.