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.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati stressed that his best interest lies in maintaining a good and strong relation with Saudi Arabia, which is keen on preserving Lebanon’s stability and security and supports all movements aiming at facing extremist groups.
In a statement to
al-Liwaa Daily, Mikati said that he would have resigned, if Hezbollah had entered the Syrian war during his mandate, pointing out that the Shiite party’s intervention came after the cabinet’s resignation.
On another note, Mikati said that President Michel Sleiman’s visit to Saudi Arabia “came in the right time in order to discuss the current regional situation.”
However, the caretaker PM revealed that funding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon has ended, adding that the twin blasts that targeted two of Tripoli’s mosques and revelations of the involvement of former MP Ali Eid have deteriorated the situation and widened the gap between the residents of Bab al-Tebbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.
“The residents of Tripoli are not accepting the fact that a Lebanese party is involved in the attacks,” he said.
On the other hand, Mikati revealed that he met with Speaker Nabih Berri on Saturday where they discussed the presidential elections, stressing the need to deploy strong efforts in order to hold these elections.
“I definitely support holding the presidential elections on time, but if we fail to hold them, I vote for extending President Sleiman’s mandate,” he stated, noting that the extension is better than a presidential void.
Al-Akhbar Daily quoted property dealers in Beirut as saying that real estate deals estimated to be worth millions of US dollars are being prepared and are related to decisions to be made by the mayor of Beirut Bilal Hamad.
According to the reports, Hamad works on raising the investment factor to 100% in two real estates in the region of Rawche.
Head of the Office of the UN-League of Arab States Joint Special Representative for Syria at the United Nations Mokhtar Lamani denied reports launched by media stating that he is personally contacting the abductors of the Syrian bishops Boulos Yaziji and Youhanna Ibrahim.
Media outlets had reported that Lamani received from the kidnappers a 6-minute-long audio recording proving that the bishops are alive.
In this context, Lamani told
al-Akhbar Daily that he had contacted the Syrian authorities in order to help release the bishops, adding that the abductees were taken by a group affiliated with the al-Qaeda organization.
The UN official said that he had information saying that the bishops are alive, pointing out however that no further details were provided.
“Contacts have been lost between the mediators and the kidnappers due to publishing reports on the case in media,” Lamani said.
Al-Akhbar Daily quoted the Prime Minister-Designate Tammam Salam as saying that President Michel Sleiman’s visit to Saudi Arabia is harmless and can actually come to benefit Lebanon.
Salam reiterated that the regional stagnation is leaving a negative impact on the local scene, mainly concerning the issue of the cabinet formation.
“Despite the efforts we deploy to separate between the regional events and the local issues, we are not being able to protect the country amid the current foreign changes,” he noted, calling on the political parties to reach agreement in order to dissociate the country and prevent the collapse of its institutions.