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-Nahar Daily reported that the newly-appointed US
ambassador to Lebanon David Hale informed caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati
during a meeting at the Grand Serail, of the US official decision to dissociate
Lebanon from the repercussions of the possible military strike against Syria.
Hale added that the US is keen on preventing the strike from
negatively affecting the Lebanese scene.
Lebanese diplomatic sources explained that the decision to
deport the families of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon, that count
around 200 people, has not yet been implemented, despite the measures taken at
Beirut International Airport, noting that the concerned authorities are working
on deporting the families individually, not collectively, in order to prevent media
bustle.
In this context,
as-Safir Daily quoted well-informed
diplomatic sources from Brussels as saying that everyone believes that the
presence of the UNIFIL in South Lebanon benefits all the parties.
Sources from the Free Patriotic
Movement revealed that the Saudi ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awad Assiri stressed
that Saudi Arabia is still insisting on isolating Hezbollah and still rejecting the
formation of a new cabinet where the Shiite party will be represented.
Accordingly, FPM activists
said that the Free Patriotic Movement must hold talks with the Future Movement
and the head of the National Struggle Front MP Walid Jumblatt, stressing that
the country is currently facing a dangerous situation.
The same sources told
al-Akhbar Daily that the current tensions must be eased in order to reach
dialogue, noting that the FPM is deploying efforts in order to improve the
situation.
A senior security official
expressed his fear that the security situation will surpass the stage of
explosions and car bombs to reach the stage of assassinations that aim at
creating sedition and chaos in the streets, describing the parties responsible
for these terrorist acts as “mean professional parties” that work according to
a political and security agenda.
The official told
al-Joumhouria Newspaper that carrying out an attack in the northern city of
Tripoli shortly after the attack that hit Beirut Southern Suburb, means that the
perpetrators have a deep knowledge regarding the Lebanese people’s divisions,
and seek to incite Sunni-Shiite strife.
While expressing his fear
from a new wave of assassinations, the security official said: “in case an
assassination attack targets a top influential figure, the situation in the
country would further deteriorate, the people would take to the streets while
security instability would prevail.”
This as he stressed that the country will be heading toward a
critical stage in case the United States implemented its threats of carrying
out a military strike against Syria, adding that such a move might be followed
by similar operations in Lebanon.