Sources close to the United Nation Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told
An-Nahar newspaper that the latter will arrive in Beirut on the 13th of January to meet with high Lebanese officials and discuss all pending issues on the local political scene and the region.
Ki-moon will discuss the renewal of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s protocol as well as the Lebanese-Syrian and Lebanese-Israeli border issues and the status of the UNIFIL contingents working in South Lebanon.
The sources added that the Secretary General will meet with a March 14 delegation to discuss the Lebanese detainees in the Syrian prisons issue, the implementation of the UNSC resolution 1680 on the delimitation of Lebanon’s border with Syria and the procedures taken by the Lebanese government to implement resolution 1559.
The sources revealed that amid the discussion regarding Al-Qaeda militants’ infiltration in North Lebanon Ki-moon saw a greater need to draw the Lebanese-Syrian border.
According to
As-Safir newspaper, the Minister of Energy Gebran Bassil saw in the voting on the draft law regarding Lebanon’s offshore resources in the last cabinet session an achievement for the current government and a gift to all the Lebanese, adding that Lebanon now is a step closer to start extracting its resources.
“The challenge now lays in the appointment of a committee capable of directing the entire program and of receiving bids from foreign investors and oil companies during the next three months”, Bassil was quoted as saying.
“The committee members will be appointed based on a merit system taking into consideration the religious quota”.
Asked on the size of the offshore resources available Bassil said “We will raise this issue in the right time but for now I can promise the Lebanese that the upcoming months will be full of surprises”.
As-Safir newspaper said that Al-Qaeda discussion remains open to all local and international scenarios, adding that a report issued by the White House in Washington revealed that some groups in Lebanon sympathize with Al-Qaeda.
The White House report was exposed during a press conference held by Daniel Benjamin Coordinator for Counter Terrorism at the U.S. Department of State.
On the activities of al-Qaeda in Syria and Lebanon Benjamin said, "We saw all reports and we don’t have any additional comment; We are certain that some groups in Lebanon have been sympathizing with al-Qaeda for many years, and you may recall that the LAF entered a refugee camp a few years ago to deal with a group that had ideologies similar to that of al-Qaeda [in reference to the Nahr al Bared war of 2007]".
"One thing is sure, there have been [al-Qaeda] members in Lebanon throughout the years but whether they are involved in the Syrian events is another issue."
As-Safir newspaper mentioned that the head of the National Struggle Front Walid Jumblatt would not enjoy reviewing his political achievement in 2011 as it was crowned with failure.
According to As-Safir Jumblatt believed that the Syrian President Bashar Assad would be the only Arab leader who will not be affected by the popular movements as he will start implementing reforms that will protect him and his rule. Jumblatt called on the Syrian President to leave power willingly and evade all international and regional sanctions.
The newspaper added that on the 31st of March 2010 Jumblatt visited Syria to meet President Assad and they lastly met in June 2011. “Assad has a golden chance to get rid of the unwanted figures around him as he might regain an internal and an external political support”, Jumblatt was quoted as saying.
Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jihad al-Maqdisi told
Al-Watan newspaper that the statement of the head of the National Struggle Front Walid Jumblatt, who called on the Druze in Syria to abstain from participating in the Syrian Army military operations, as being empty and irrelevant.
Maqdisi said “I don’t want to interfere in the Lebanese politics but I would like to inform Jumblatt that we are not practicing any kind of oppression but some groups have decided to carry weapons against us, we cannot but respond firmly to such actions”.