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.
An-Nahar daily reported that Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem will hold a press conference on Monday at noon. The newspaper added that Moallem will discuss the protocol and the relations with the Arab League and tackle the latest developments including the Russian draft law on Syria submitted to the UN Security Council.
The permanent envoys to the Arab League will hold a meeting on Tuesday in the league’s headquarters in Cairo to be briefed on the outcome of the ministerial meeting on Syria held in Doha on Saturday. The envoys will also look into the possibility of opening a bureau for the league in Libya and read a report regarding the visit of the Arab League Secretary General Nabil el-Araby to Iarq.
An-Nahar stated that Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour will oppose the decision taken by Arab Foreign Minister to submit the Syrian case to the UNSC. Mansour received an invitation to represent Lebanon in the extraordinary meeting that will be held on December 21 after having received a memorandum from the league’s General Secretariat through Lebanon’s permanent representative to the league. The meeting was set for 11 a.m. on Wednesday in Vermont hotel near Cairo’s airport due to the unstable security situation in Tahrir square, which is located near the league’s headquarters.The meeting aims at discussing the measures to be taken if Damascus refuses to sign the deal to establish a legitimate headquarters and allow Arab observers to monitor the bloody situation in Syria.
An-Nahar quoted diplomatic sources as saying that in case the Syrian case is deferred to the UNSC, the participants will certainly be divided between those opposing it and those endorsing it while the ministerial committee unanimously adopted it in Doha.
According to sources from Doha and other Arab capitals, signs are pointing at the fact that Damascus will accept the deadline/warning addressed by the head of the committee, Qatari PM and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasem Bin Jaber Al Thani. Sheikh Hamad gave Syria until Wednesday to sign the protocol.
As-Safir daily reported that the Syrian leadership made the decision to sign the protocol of cooperation with the Arab League on Monday. The daily added that the decision aims at allowing observers to enter Syrian soil as a first step towards the implementation of the Arab initiative to solve the Syrian crisis.
Diplomatic sources told the newspaper that during the next few hours, before Wednesday’s meeting of the ministerial council, Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad will sign the protocol in Cairo on behalf of Damascus.
The sources were quoted as saying that the Syrian regime will take such an initiative to obstruct the plan of some Arab countries attempting to turn the Syrian crisis into an international one and lay the ground towards a military intervention against Damascus. The sources stressed that Syria wishes that the solution be limited to the Arab League, based on its belief in the importance of protecting Arab relations.
As-Safir stressed that the Arab observers delegation will visit Syria for one month, reduced from two extendable months by consent of both parties. The daily added that the Arab League agreed that the Arab delegation should cooperate with the Syrian authority in order to safeguard Syria’s sovereignty and Syria will be briefed on the delegation’s reports at the same time as the league.
As-Safir added that Syrian President Bashar Assad will deliver a speech in the upcoming days to shed light on the developments that have occurred during the past few months and the foreseeable future.
Speaker Nabih Berri called on concerned parties to look into the Orthodox Gathering's draft electoral law,
As-Safir daily reported.
The newspaper quoted Berri as saying: “The Orthodox draft is not a reason, rather the outcome of so many amassed fears and past experiences. It is the natural result of the country’s confessional path.” The speaker’s visitors cited him as saying that it is not a matter of being with or against the draft law.
“When approaching the draft, one should keep in mind that there is a need to solve a real national problem that goes beyond the law itself”, Berri said, calling for a comprehensive solution acceptable by all Lebanese.
Al-Liwaa reported that March 14 MPs will hold an urgent meeting on Monday at Parliament to reiterate their call to disarm Beirut.
Future bloc MP Mohammad Qabbani said that the meeting aims at tackling the security situation, especially following the numerous clashes that erupted in the city.
Qabbani stressed that all these security incidents and proliferation of weapons in Burj Abu Haidar and Al Zaydania not only frightened citizens but also endangered their security and safety.
Al Akhbar daily said that the Audit Bureau issued a one of a kind judicial decision accusing the then-Finance Minister Fouad Siniora of violating the financial code in 1996 by missing out on the opportunity to cash 5 billion LBP for the Public Treasury through the Tico Tac cards.
The bureau briefed the parliament on the decision issued on August 2010 and reiterated in a second decision issued on July 2011. The daily said that on December 18, 2010 the bureau issued a judicial order regarding financial violations in the Directorate of National Lottery, following investigations of an import operation of Instant lottery tickets “Tico Tac”.
The newspaper stressed that this decision holds former PM Fouad Siniora responsible for what is considered “a real damaged incurred by public finances”, since the state missed on the opportunity to cash 4,905,46,300 LBP. Al Akhbar said that this mistake was made between 1992 and 1996, in other terms when Siniora held the office of Finance Minister.
The newspaper added that in 1996, the customs intercepted a large quantity of counterfeit Tico Tac cards entering Lebanese soil to make illegal profits at the expense of the Public Treasury. Al Akhbar reported that the customs fined the Lebanese Investment Company, however the case was prevented from being transferred to court by fomenting an ill-founded deal sponsored by Siniora.