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.
The head of the Future bloc MP Fouad Siniora said that there is a “small step to be taken to agree on the pay scale and which requires the approval of a 1% increase to the rate of the Value Added Tax (VAT), which constitutes a major and constant source of income."
In a statement to
an-Nahar Daily, Siniora explained that since the 1% increase will guarantee immediate revenue, the authorities will be able to meet instant payment obligations, such as a wage increase. He stressed that the position of the Future Movement in this regard will not change.
In the same context, Siniora pointed out that the budget deficit, which has reached LBP 7700 billion, (USD 5.2 billion) requires efforts to ensure new sources of revenue, noting that the current conditions in Lebanon and the region are nor favorable for an appropriate economic growth plan.
Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbass revealed that his discussions with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres tackled the measures to be taken by the Lebanese government in order to put an end to the Syrian refugee influx, through banning the entry of refugees, unless they come from combat zones.
The minister reiterated that every Syrian national, who leaves the Lebanese territories and returns to Syria, will no longer be considered a refugee.
In a statement to
al-Liwaa newspaper, Derbass noted that he reached an agreement with Guterres over the need to alleviate the pressure imposed by the Syrian refugees on the Lebanese sectors, adding that the issue of assisting Lebanon in boosting its role in hosting Syrian refugees will be discussed with senior Kuwaiti officials.
In another statement to
Asharq al-Awsat daily, Minister Derbass said that should the donor countries fail to meet their obligations, “Lebanon would be hosting, feeding, medicating and educating another country's people.”
“Is Lebanon capable of doing so?” he asked.
Sources from the Free Patriotic Movement revealed that Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil delivered to Prime Minister Tammam Salam a list containing the FPM’s conditions to activate the work of the Lebanese government.
The sources added that the main condition included in the list is the establishment of a ministerial committee headed by PM Salam, and formed of ministers representing the main parliamentary blocs, the duty of which will be to supervise the government’s implementation of the president’s prerogatives.
While sources from the Future Movement stressed that the latter rejected the said submission, ministerial sources close to Salam told
al-Akhbar daily that the prime minister received a series of suggestions related to the same issue from several ministers, pointing out that all of the proposals aim at facilitating the cabinet’s duties.
An-Nahar daily reported that Julie Abu Araj, a journalist of Lebanese origins who holds the Israeli citizenship since taking refuge in the occupied lands in 2000, revealed that she received a report from the Israeli Intelligence (Mossad), stating that armed groups, affiliated with the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, are planning to implement a major terrorist attack in Lebanon targeting a senior security official, expected to be the Director General of the Lebanese General Security Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim.
According to the newspaper, the journalist, who works for an Israeli TV as a news editor, said that the Mossad got hold of this information from its agents inside the Palestinian refugee camp in Ain al-Helweh, after detecting a series of contacts concerning plans to prepare a booby-trapped car and detonate it in Beirut.
An-Nahar daily discussed the authenticity of the said document with a senior security official from the General Security, who said that the matter is being handled in a serious manner and the necessary security measures have been taken.