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.
Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi stressed that the political cover has been granted for the Lebanese Armed Forces who can take the decision to enter troubled regions anytime they see fit, noting that the security forces must deploy strong efforts in order to arrest criminals who have legal warrants issued against them.
In a statement to
al-Joumhouria Daily, Rifi said that “this time, the political decision was firmly taken by a national unity cabinet,” pointing out that Hezbollah’s call on security forces to intervene and arrest all fugitives is “a relatively good position launched during the cabinet session.”
In this regard, the minister hoped that all the positions will be implemented on the ground, and that the security forces will be able to dismantle all gangs involved in all forms of crimes.
The head of the budget and finance parliamentary committee, MP Ibrahim Kanaan said that Speaker Nabih Berri stressed that in case the ranks and salaries draft law was approved during the joint committees meeting, it will be added to the agenda of the parliamentary session. He noted that the said draft law has been discussed enough over a period of 5 months.
In a statement to
al-Joumhouria Daily, Kanaan said that the draft law has become ready, stressing however that they did their best in order to prevent the series from affecting the economy and the poor people.
Commenting on the remarks voiced by MP Marwan Hamadeh who said that the new cabinet may require reviewing a number of items included in the series and may call on the economic bodies to retrieve the draft law from the parliament to review and discuss the means and methods of funding and their implications, Kanaan stressed that withdrawing the series draft law from the parliamentary committees “is a bad sign, since the previous cabinets spent one year and a half discussing it.”
“We hope that we will not need to resort to these steps, since they constitute an escape from the responsibilities we must assume sooner or later,” he added.
The Secretary General of the Arab Democratic Party Refaat Eid stressed that his party will support any security plan that aims at restoring security in the northern city of Tripoli, noting that several question marks have been raised in this regard, “since the same security plan was set up under Najib Mikati’s cabinet and failed to be implemented.”
“This means that those who used to give the green light for the clashes to erupt are the same ones who pretend to be giving the green light for the army to interfere,” he said.
In a statement to
al-Joumhouria Daily, Eid pointed out that the solution for the crisis in Tripoli must be political, stressing that the parties who prepared the security plan aim at striking the Lebanese Armed Forces and their commander General Jean Kahwaji, since the latter is a presidential candidate.
“Under Saad Hariri’s cabinet, no security plan was set up, whereas the issue was resolved with politics,” he said, adding that security plans must be placed to confront al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), not the Lebanese people.
Interior and Municipalities Minister Nouhad al-Machnouq said that after the cabinet has approved the security plan for the troubled regions, mainly Tripoli and Arsal, the countdown has begun, stressing that all the security forces must unite and work as one body in order to restore security and prevent attacks, terrorism, explosions, forgery, murder and abduction.
In a statement to an-Nahar Newspaper, al-Mshnouq noted that the security plan seeks to arrest all criminals, regardless of the confessions and affiliations, but according to the judiciary’s decisions.