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.
According to
An-Nahar daily, the cabinet will hold a regular session at 11am on Wednesday morning in Baabda presidential palace under the chairmanship of the President Michel Sleiman to discuss 27 items on its agenda. The session includes two speeches pronounced by President Sleiman and PM Najib Mikati.
Sources told An-Nahar that Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn’s latest statements regarding Al-Qaeda militants in Ersal will be discussed in depth during the meeting. It is expected that the Shura Council will send its review regarding the last wage adjustment proposal to the government today.
According to
An-Nahar daily, the US Congress has decided to resume its military aids to the Lebanese Armed Forces after it has been put on hold in 2010 upon the clashes that occurred between the Lebanese and the Israeli armies in Adayse.
The step came after the Foreign Appropriation Committee in the Congress met and got the approval from the American President Barrack Obama to resume collaboration with the Lebanese government.
The US Administration has decided to grant the sum of $100 million to the Lebanese Armed Forces as well as other military aids.
According to
al-Hayat newspaper the head of the Arab League observer mission in Syria Mustafa al-Dabi said that his team will send a report to the Arab League committee in charge of discussing the Syrian file after his visit to Homs, adding that his team will not give any details or comments to the media regarding the content of the report nor about the current situation in Syria.
In an interview to Al-Hayat al-Dabi said “We are on a mission here, we report what we see to the AL from an objective point of view to prevent any decision targeting only one side of the ongoing conflict”.
According to
al-Hayat newspaper, the Iraqi Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi, who is currently facing charges for being involved in terrorist acts, said that the Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki might have received false information about a possible coup d’état and took those measures as a “Preemptive strike”.
Al-Hashimi added that such a step will have repercussions on the Sunni areas in Iraq who will demand their independence and self-government in their provinces, revealing that he will not raise his case in front of the United Nations if he receives a fair trial in Iraq.
“I will not resign from my current post; I will simply review my stances and my political path”.
According to
As-Safir newspaper, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Adnan Mansour said that the Arab League has sent an invitation to al Arab countries to participate in the Arab League Observatory Mission to Syria.
Based on the invitation President Michel Sleiman and PM Najib Mikati held a closed meeting to discuss sending a Lebanese delegation to participate in observatory team but they both decided to distance Lebanon from all the ongoing tension in the region, after they refused to interfere in any Arab country’s internal affairs.
“I think we made the right choice; we all know the internal problems between the Arabs currently and there is no point with us taking a side in all that”, PM Mikati told the newspaper.