Press Digest for Friday June 06, 2014

3^min

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.

Speaker Berri says Lebanon's presidential elections need to be prioritized

Speaker Nabih Berri said Lebanon's presidential elections need to be prioritized, slamming attempts to disrupt state authorities until a new president is elected, As-Safir newspaper reported on Friday.

Berri also commented on attempts to limit the legislative power, and said: "I reject any kind of restrictions since the parliament legislates as per the constitution and the cabinet should also operate as all files are important".

"Aren't the wage scale, the electoral law and the draft budget all urgent issues?," he asked.

Informed sources deny contacts between Hezbollah, US officials

Well-informed sources denied on Friday that contacts are being held between Hezbollah and US officials, and said: "The main goal of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to Beirut was to support Lebanon's stability".

"Kerry's call on Russia, Iran and Hezbollah to engage in a legitimate effort to end the Syrian war, has a positive and a negative explanation," the sources told Al-Joumhouria daily.

"The negative explanation is that Kerry holds the aforementioned parties responsible for the long simmering Syrian war," the sources said.

"The positive explanation is that Kerry's call on Hezbollah to play a role constitutes a legal and official recognition of the group," the same sources added.

MP Chamoun says Kerry's visit to Beirut has shown positive signs

National Liberal Party leader MP Dory Chamoun said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to Beirut has shown positive signs, noting that it sends out a message to the Lebanese.

"Kerry's visit reveals that the US administration did not forsake the Lebanese people," Chamoun told the Kuwait-based Al-Seyassah daily on Friday.

"It is normal that Kerry meets Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Beshara Boutros Rai who was adamant on holding the presidential elections the soonest possible," MP Chamoun added.

Cardinal Rai to call for nationwide protests if power vacuum remains

As-Safir newspaper reported on Friday that Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Beshara Boutros Rai will not hesitate in calling for demonstrations and civil disobedience over the ongoing presidential deadlock.

“Cardinal Rai will call for nationwide protests... and civil disobedience until a new head of state is elected,” the daily added.