Press Digest for Thursday January 2, 2014

Well-informed sources told the Kuwait-based Al Anbaa newspaper on Thursday that Prime Minister-Designate Tammam Salam will form a new government between Sunday and Tuesday.      

"It seems that the new cabinet will be comprised of 14 new ministers," the sources said, adding that "new ministers will take office except for caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, the only one remaining from the outgoing cabinet of caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati".   

Sources close to Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awad Asiri told Al-Hayat daily on Thursday that delays in announcing the arrest of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades' leader were due to Saudi Arabia's will to conduct DNA tests for identification.           

Well-informed sources told the daily that Majid bin Muhammad al-Majid remains hospitalized for kidney problems while being heavily guarded, noting that contacts are ongoing between the Ambassador and senior Lebanese officials since al-Majid is a Saudi national wanted by the Kingdom's authorities.            

"Should a neutral government or a technocrat cabinet be formed, it will only result with the exclusion Hezbollah," the guests of Speaker Nabih Berri quoted him as saying.

"The parties concerned with the formation of a new cabinet are missing the opportunity to reach an understanding when they resort to such a government," Berri told Al-Hayat daily as quoted by his guests.          

"We offered them a way out when we proposed with National Struggle Front leader MP Walid Jumblatt the 6-9-9 cabinet formula, which is the best solution for the March 14 forces," Speaker Berri said.

 

• Saudi Ambassador Asiri confirms detention of al-Qaeda commander     

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awad Asiri said the Lebanese authorities had informed the Saudi embassy in Beirut that they managed to arrest a commander for al-Qaeda, the leader of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, who is wanted by the Saudi security apparatuses.        

"Information obtained by the Lebanese authorities almost confirm that the detained person is Majid bin Muhammad al-Majid," the Ambassador told the Saudi daily al-Riyadh on Thursday, and said: "We are awaiting DNA tests to be 100 percent sure about his identity".       

In a question directed at Asiri over whether al-Majid will be taken to Saudi Arabia where he will stand trial, the Ambassador said the suspect is still under investigation by the Lebanese authorities, adding that the embassy is following up on the case in order to confirm his identity.