Energy Minister Gebran Bassil told
An-Nahar newspaper that,
as Change and Reform bloc ministers, they
are seriously looking into the feasibility of them staying
in the government or leaving it, adding that all
possibilities are open.
Bassil said that the bloc will hold a meeting today headed
by its leader MP Michel Aoun to make a
stance on the situation of the government.
As-Safir newspaper said that former PM Saad Hariri met with
the coordinator of March 14 General
Secretariat, Fares Said, and a member of the Secretariat,
Samir Frangieh, Thursday evening in his house
in Paris. The meeting’s main objective was the assessment of
the situation in Syria.
According to the newspaper, Hariri called on his movement
and the March 14 coalition to be on political
alert, to prepare for the new phase. Hariri warned of the
dramatic repercussions of the Syrian and
Lebanese incidents, calling on all parties to be ready for
the “street option” with several political and
social demands.
Hariri told his guests that he will not be among the
speakers at the Tripoli festival on Sunday, and that
his return to Lebanon depends on the course of events in
Syria.
Al-Akhbar newspaper reported that prior to the Arab foreign
ministers meeting last Thursday, and
after the meeting’s date was postponed twice, Lebanese
foreign minister Adnan Mansour gave his
instructions to Lebanon’s representative at the Arab League
ambassador Khaled Ziade, informing him
of the points in the draft law on Syria that Lebanon will be
opposed to and those that Lebanon will have
reservations on.
According to the same newspaper, Ziade followed Mansour’s
instructions during the meeting,
announcing the Lebanese stance on the matter. But before
voting on the draft law, Ziade received a
phone call from PM Najib Mikati who gave him new
instructions, telling him to announce that Lebanon
will “disassociate itself” from this decision.
When the voting began, Ziade did exactly what Mikati told
him to do. The Qatari foreign minister Hamad
Bin Jassem Al Thani then asked him: “What does disassociate
oneself mean?”, then said, addressing the
Arab League’s Secretary General Nabil el-Araby: “Your
Excellency Secretary General, do you know what
does disassociate oneself mean?” Araby replied: “No, Your
Highness. I have never heard of it before”.
Bin Jassem then asked the Lebanese delegate: “Does this mean
that you approve, or refuse or refrain
from voting? Ziade responded: “Not this, nor that, nor
that”.
Well informed French sources told
Al-Hayat newspaper that,
in light of the U.N.’s review of
peacekeeping forces, France will decrease the number of its
troops in the international peacekeeping
forces in South Lebanon, UNIFIL, probably at the beginning
of next year, when the mandate of the
UNIFIL’s commander General Alberto Assarta ends, to be
replaced by an Italian commander who hasn’t
been chosen yet.
The sources voiced their concerns about the tense atmosphere
in Lebanon between the opposition
and Syria’s allies, hoping that calm will prevail for the
interest of Lebanon, especially amid the Syrian
crisis. “Lebanon must avoid the negative impact of the
Syrian crisis on the security situation in Lebanon”.
The sources added that the March 14 coalition must build
itself and its programs for the post-Assad’s fall
phase, and avoid pouring oil on fire when the Syrian allies
are already tense following the Arab League’s
decision.